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A novel idea for nuclear waste plans – ban lawsuits!

Lawmaker suggests limiting judicial review of nuclear waste sites Las Vegas Review Journal, BY STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU   Feb. 8, 2012  WASHINGTON — The nuclear waste blue ribbon commission has recommended the government try a new cooperative approach to recruit volunteer states to host a high-level radioactive waste site.

But when several commissioners testified Wednesday in Congress, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.,
offered another idea — don’t allow lawsuits. Continue reading →

February 9, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

9 Organisations planning court action against Vogtle nuclear plant license

Anti-nuke groups plan court action to block Georgia plant, Charlotte Business Journal by John Downey,   February 8, 2012,  The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission    is expected to vote Thursday on whether to license the Southern Co. ’s proposed 2,234-megawatts Vogtle nuclear plant.

But anti-nuclear activists are asking the commission to delay the vote as they prepare to file a federal suitnext week against the proposed licensing. Continue reading →

February 9, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Secret build of renewable energy by Palestinians

Palestinians Attempt to Build Secret Renewable Energy Plants Green Prophet,    | February 8th, 2012 |Palestinians living in Masafer Yatta who do not have access to the electrical grid have been developing home grown renewable energy plants.

 

Palestinians living in the Masafer Yatta village have been secretly pursuing wind and solar energy projects in order to mitigate a serious shortfall of energy in the village.

But the 150,000 residents that live in Area C, which has been under Israeli control since 1993, live in constant fear that Israeli authorities will demolish their projects. Continue reading →

February 9, 2012 Posted by | Israel, MIDDLE EAST, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 1 Comment

Brazil postpones its nuclear power project

Brazil delays nuclear plans after Japan disaster RIO DE JANEIRO (MarketWatch)  Feb. 8, 2012, — Brazil’s plans to build four new nuclear power plants have been delayed by about 18 months following last year’s accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, an official of Brazilian state-owned nuclear power company Eletronuclear said Wednesday….

February 9, 2012 Posted by | Brazil, politics | Leave a comment

France in financial problem, with all its energy eggs in the nuclear basket

presidential contender Holland now says that he would only close the nation’s oldest such nuclear plant in his first five years in office……

Critics say that the billions it will cost to make such [necessary safety] upgrades is money that could otherwise be spent developing the country’s green energy program.

French Nuclear Debate Ignites Amidst Presidential Race, Forbes, 2/08/2012 Japan’s nuclear tragedy is igniting a debate in France , which generates more than three-quarters of its electricity from nuclear energy.  And while that nation’s presidential candidates are squaring off on the issue, an independent audit agency there may have settled the dispute for them. Continue reading →

February 9, 2012 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

13.5 tons of water hourly in effort to cool Fukushima nuclear reactor No. 2

Boric acid to prevent recriticality, Japan Times,8 Feb 12,  Reactor No. 2 heats up, gets more water Kyodo Workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant increased the amount of water injected into reactor 2 on Tuesday to the highest level since the plant achieved cold shutdown in December as concerns grew over rising temperatures at the bottom of the pressure vessel….

Tepco said it increased the amount of injected water, some of which contained boric acid, at 4:24 a.m. Tuesday. Reactor 2 is now being cooled with 13.5 tons of water per hour, up from 10.5 tons. The boric acid is being used to prevent a sustained nuclear chain reaction, or recriticality.

Nuclear disaster minister Goshi Hosono told reporters that Tepco is
making every effort to lower the temperature…. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120207x1.html

February 8, 2012 Posted by | Japan, safety, water | Leave a comment

Uranium company’s bribes to law-makers can backfire

Lawmaker: Trip to France dissuaded him on uranium mining, Pilot Online.com. 7 Feb 12, “……..The bulk of the largesse directed at Cosgrove was the $12,449 spent by Virginia Uranium, the company lobbying to establish a uranium mine in Pittsylvania County. The
company sent Cosgrove and several other lawmakers to visit a mine site in France.The purpose of the trip, Cosgrove said, was to reassure the Virginia legislators that uranium could be mined safely with no chance of contaminating Lake Gaston, a major source of Hampton Roads’ drinking water that lies downstream from the proposed mine site.

But the trip persuaded him of the exact opposite, Cosgrove said. “They never showed us beyond any doubt that there couldn’t be some catastrophic effect on our drinking water,” he said. As a result, “I came back thinking that uranium mining is probably not in the best
interest of Hampton Roads.”… http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/lawmaker-trip-france-dissuaded-him-uranium-mining

February 8, 2012 Posted by | USA, water | Leave a comment

It’s getting hotter in Fukushima’s supposedly “cold shutdown” nuclear plant

Rising temperatures trigger concern at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant Telegraph UK 7 Feb 12, Water temperatures at Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant have risen more than 20 degrees Celsius over the past week.  By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo 07 Feb 2012 Concerns are growing in relation to conditions at the plant, in northeast Japan, which was declared in a state of cold shutdown in December last year. Continue reading →

February 8, 2012 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Polynesia’s radioactive pollution from France’s nuclear bomb tests

France’s upper chamber approved a motion that provides for Mururoa and Fangataufa, currently under the control of the defence ministry, to be restored to the Polynesian public domain, though the bill stands little chance of becoming law. “We realise that they are the two largest nuclear dumps in an ocean environment. But in Oceania you cannot separate human beings from their ecosystem,” says the author of the bill, Senator Richard Tuheiva. “Restitution [of the atolls] is a way of soothing the psychological wounds [caused by the nuclear era].”

about 5kg of plutonium is trapped in the sediment at the bottom of the Mururoa and Fangataufa lagoons, ……. There is no question of them returning to “normal” use.

 

France urged to clean up deadly waste from its nuclear tests in Polynesia, Guardian UK,  7 Feb 2012, 193 nuclear tests carried out on the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls between 1966 and 1996 have left a dangerous legacy. Continue reading →

February 8, 2012 Posted by | - plutonium, environment, OCEANIA | Leave a comment

Conflict of interest pro nuclear councillor’s nuclear investments

Pro-nuclear energy town councillor’s firm had 700 million yen in nuke plant contracts, Mainichi Daily News,  February 7, 2012 TAKAHAMA, Fukui –– A town assembly member here calling for the continuation of nuclear power is also president of a company that has received at least 700 million yen in nuclear-related construction contracts, it has been learned.

Akio Awano, 62, is vice-speaker of the municipal assembly of Takahama, which hosts a Kansai Electric Power Co. nuclear plant. He is also part of a local organization promoting nuclear power plants.

According to the Fukui Prefectural Government and other sources, Awano’s firm, a metal processing company, has around 15 employees and earned about 200 million yen in fiscal 2010. It has an office in the Takahama nuclear plant and has expanded its business on a diet of nuclear plant-related construction.   …….    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120207p2a00m0na023000c.html

February 8, 2012 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

England’s Conservative Party – a shambles of Climate Change Denialists

In the main, the Tories are a coalition of climate change sceptics ….. Despite the fact that 60 per cent of voters think it is ‘right’ to ‘subsidise wind farms to encourage more use of wind power’.

Far from being ‘intermittent’ wind turbines operate between 70-80 per cent of the time, currently providing power for the equivalent of 3.3 million homes.

Climate change sceptics and rural romantics – the Tories are a shambles on renewable energy Left Foot Forward, by Kevin Meagher, February 7th 2012  It took less than 24 hours from the resignation of Chris Huhne for the Tories to strike. A hundred and one Tory backbenchers have written to David Cameron calling for an end to public subsidies designed to support Britain’s wind power industry.

They claim that subsidies should be drastically cut and draft planning guidance strengthened to make it easier for objectors to block wind farm schemes. Continue reading →

February 8, 2012 Posted by | climate change, politics, UK | Leave a comment

The facts on renewable energy in Southern USA

Mythbusting facts about renewable energy in the southern U.S.,  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/02/mythbusting-facts-about-renewable-energy-in-the-southern-u-sRenewable Energy World, By Lauren Glickman , February 7, 2012 
Renewable energy sources (like wind power) and energy efficiency can help the southern U.S. meet what is expected to be growing future electricity demand, but a lingering set of myths is hampering their development in the region, according to a new study, “Myths and Facts About Electricity in the U.S. South,” by researchers from Duke and Georgia Tech. These misimpressions could have serious consequences–the South’s population is expected to increase by 28 percent over the next 20 years, and wise use of resources will be needed to satisfy energy demand while reducing energy-related pollution.

The researchers used economic and energy modeling to examine the myths. To avoid repeating the myths and thereby giving them further credence, I’m going to list some selected findings with the most significance for wind power as a set of “mythbusting facts” instead:

Future growth in electricity demand in the South can be met by renewable energy and efficiency:  Continue reading →

February 8, 2012 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Call for independent radiation monitoring of nuclear plant in San Clemente

Group Wants New Radiation Monitors In San Clemente, Concerns About ‘Information Flow’ From San Onofre Nuclear Plant, KPBS, February 7, 2012, By Ed Joyce, Inspectors at the plant are trying to find signs of a leak at the Unit 3 reactor. The leak forcedSouthern California Edison, which operates the facility, to take the reactor offline. The other reactor, Unit 2, was already offline for scheduled maintenance and refueling.

……..members of an environmental group want the San Clemente City Council to demand public release of inspection findings before the two reactors are restarted.

Gary Headrick is the founder of San Clemente Green. He plans to bring up several items at tonight’s San Clemente City Council meeting.

“We have some immediate concerns about wanting to get an independent radiation monitoring system in San Clemente,” said Headrick. “That way we won’t have to rely on the sources from the industry to tell the public exactly what’s going on. Maybe they have a conflict of interest and they don’t want to share all the information right away, that’s what we saw happen in Japan and information was delayed getting to the public.”

He also wants the City of San Clemente to pay for an epidemiological study of cancer trends near the nuclear plant…… http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/feb/07/group-wants-new-radiation-monitors-san-clemente/

February 8, 2012 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Why is Iran singled out on the nuclear issue?

What exactly is Iran’s crime? Guardian UK, Anna Romano, 7 Feb 12,  (EU risks oil embargo, 27 January)? Its burgeoning nuclear activities are not in contravention of international law.

There are several countries that have nuclear weapons and are not subject to scrutiny and inspection from the IAEA, most notably Israel. It remains a source of contention that this institution is prepared to tolerate Israel’s policy of deliberate ambiguity.

Additionally, countries such as India and Pakistan could never have obtained their nuclear capability without the consent of the US. Neither of these nations is a signed up member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, while Iran is.

Iran has little reason to trust the west. Its first more or less democratically elected leader, Mossadegh was toppled from power in a CIA coup in 1953, with Britain’s blessing and support.

Iran’s real offence is to strongly criticise the west’s double standards regarding foreign policy in the region and to remain in control of its resources. The crux of the matter lies within this power structure, and so the west must support wars in the Middle East every two or three years to preserve’s Israel’s position as the only viable, militarised nuclear state in the region. Indeed, the aim of recently imposed sanctions may well be to go even further and covertly instigate regime change, illegal under international law.

Reference to Iran’s’ repressive government has little leverage in light of Saudi Arabia’s record and its repression of democracy in Bahrain. David Cameron’s recent visit to the region to sell more weapons to Saudis reflects this amorality. http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2012/feb/07/letters?newsfeed=true

February 8, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Progress Energy to continue getting nuclear advance, “dumb money”, from customers

Senators reject efforts to repeal so-called ‘nuclear tax’, Miami Herald, 7 Feb 12, Some call it a nuclear tax. Others call it a fee. Whatever the name, Florida legislators decided Monday they don’t want to take it off the electricity bills of Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light customers — even though the companies gave legislators no guarantees that they will build the nuclear plants the money is being collected to construct.

The Senate Communications, Energy and Utilities Committee voted down a proposal by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, Monday to repeal the so-called nuclear cost recovery clause embedded in customer bills. Continue reading →

February 8, 2012 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

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