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Russia to build massive nuclear icebreaker

Russia To Construct Largest Nuclear Icebreaker Ever Built, Ottawa Citizen ,March 3, 2012. Rosatomflot, the state company that operates Russia’s nuclear icebreakers, has outlined its plans to construct the LK60, which is being billed as the largest and most powerful nuclear icebreaker ever built.

The company says the tender for the new icebreaker will be announced in several months, with a contract to be signed in September. Building is scheduled to start by the end of the year (a little optimistic perhaps?) and the ship ready for operations in 2018.

The project is estimated to cost $1.4 billion. Bidding is open to foreign companies as well. An earlier nuclear icebreaker, the Vaygach was built in Finland, with the nuclear systems installed in Russia.

The LK60 has a beam of 34 metres and draft of almost 11 metres. It will be able to cut through the ice to create a pathway for larger tankers. The nuclear reactor will be rated at 60MW…. http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2012/03/03/russia-to-construct-largest-nuclear-icebreaker-ever-built/

March 6, 2012 Posted by | Russia, technology | Leave a comment

More woes for AREVA- the nuclear company faces legal problems

Areva could face competition inquiry if it wins UK nuclear power contract, Rival argues French state-owner company would have monopoly if chosen to build Wylfa reactor on Anglesey Dan Milmo, guardian.co.uk,   4 March 2012   Areva, the French state-owned nuclear power group, faces the threat of a competition investigation by the European commission if it wins a hotly-contested contract to build UK reactors.

Detailed legal documents drafted by a competitor and seen by the Guardian state that Areva will secure a market monopoly which should trigger a sector inquiry if the company wins the contest to build a reactor at the Wylfa site on Anglesey. Horizon, the British nuclear joint venture owned by the German power groups E.ON and RWE, is also planning a reactor for Oldbury in Gloucestershire…. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/04/areva-competition-inquiry-nuclear-reactors?newsfeed=true

March 6, 2012 Posted by | France, Legal | Leave a comment

Iran’s religious leaders strengthened after elections

Khamenei allies trounce Ahmadinejad in Iran election  
* Supreme Leader’s loyalists get over 75 pct of parliament seats

* Ahmadinejad may be lame duck for rest of term

* Election held under sanctions pressure in nuclear row (Adds Khamenei extending influence, Khamenei ally, run-off votes)
By Parisa Hafezi and Hashem Kalantari TEHRAN, March 4 (Reuters) – Clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has tightened his grip on Iran’s faction-ridden politics
after loyalists won over 75 percent of seats in parliamentary elections at the expense of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a near-complete count showed.

The widespread defeat of Ahmadinejad supporters – including his sister, Parvin Ahmadinejad – is expected to reduce the president to a lame duck after he sowed divisions by challenging the utmost authority of Khamenei in the governing hierarchy….. Absent from the vote were
the two main opposition leaders. Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, who ran for president in 2009, have been under house arrest for more than a year.

Iran denies Western suspicions that it is enriching uranium with the ultimate goal of developing nuclear weapons, saying the programme is for peaceful energy only.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/04/iran-election-result-idUSL5E8E407H20120304

March 6, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics | Leave a comment

Climate change tragedy of the Torres Strait islands

A SINKING FEELING IN THE TORRES STRAIT, ABC Radio National,  Hagar Cohen.4 March 2012, There are six islands in the Torres Strait facing inundation from tidal flooding. The encroaching sea is slowly washing away everything from building foundations to ancestral graves, and mosquitoes are thriving. One island has had its worst malaria outbreak in 50 years. There is a temporary solution—building seawalls—but the federal and state governments are showing little interest in paying for that, and in the meantime these island communities have a sinking feeling that relocation may be the only option left for them.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/2012-03-04/3857272

March 6, 2012 Posted by | climate change, OCEANIA | Leave a comment

Japanese farmers caring for their radioactive cows

“Rebel Farmers” Feed Cows Condemned To Death After Fukushima, by , March 3, 2012 http://www.care2.com/causes/rebel-farmers-feed-cows-condemned-to-death-after-fukushima.html#ixzz1oHTSSaAM   “….. 69-year-old Yukio Yamamoto is one of ten farmers from Namie, which is within the “no go zone,” who is defying government orders to euthanize his 36 black-haired wagyu cows. The cows — once prized for their high-quality beef; each was once worth $10,000 — ingested radioactive caesium and Yamamoto was supposed to kill them by lethal injection. In an interview with the Guardian, Yamamoto discussed getting a permit to enter the zone to feed his animalion. Says Yamamoto about the six-hour trip he now routinely makes:

“I left like everyone else after 11 March, “I couldn’t stop worrying about my cows, so I started coming back in every other day to feed them.”…

“Straight after the disaster, my cows had nothing to eat or drink … many of them starved to death right where they were tethered.I had to decide whether to leave the ones still alive or keep them healthy, even though we were separated.”

But Yamamoto, who is very likely the last of generations of his family to raise wagyu cows, has not received any feed from the Japanese government. Private donors, including farmers in Australia, have provided him with food for his cows.

“Eventually the feed will run out, and the government has said it will kill every last cow. But that is something I can’t allow to happen. “I could never kill these cows. They are like members of my family.”

Yamamoto is pinning his hopes on studies that can properly measure the level of contamination among his cows. As Ryoichi Harada, another “rebel farmer” helping Yamamoto feed his cows, says “We accept that the meat will never go on sale, but the cows could be put to some other commercial use.”

March 6, 2012 Posted by | Japan, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation – a top cause of cancer

Epidemiological studies also helped clarify the dangers of radiation exposure. First, studies of fruitflies in the 1920s indicated that ionizing radiation, X-rays, gamma rays and ultraviolet light could cause genetic mutations. Then, in the largest epidemiological study of the effects of radiation on humans, researchers began following Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Second World War.

Since the war, researchers have been comparing the number and type of cancers in the Hiroshima survivors with similar people not exposed to the bombs. They found that the Hiroshima survivors are at greater risk for cancer than the general population. 

One way to prevent cancer is to limit exposure to a carcinogen.

Cancer: Solving an age-old problem, Nature, Barbara Dunn, Nature  1 March 2012  “……..Some scientists consider cancer to be a recent phenomenon, arguing that it was relatively rare in ancient times. Over the past century, population-based cancer incidence has increased dramatically.
These higher rates are probably due to two factors: first, we are living longer; and second, our modern age has increased our exposure to cancer-causing chemicals in our environment and to radiation through X-rays, plane travel and other sources….. Continue reading →

March 3, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | Leave a comment

Radioactive cesium contamination in Japan

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for February 28th – March 1st, 2012, Greenpeace by Christine McCann – March 2, 2012 “……..Contamination (Includes Economic Impact and Human Exposure) A study by the Meteorological Research Institute estimates that 40,000 trillion (or 40 quadrillion) Becquerels of radioactive cesium were released as a result of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster last March. That amount is two times what scientists originally estimated.

Consumers are expressing concern about cesium contamination in rice, in light of a government decision to relax new rules about contamination levels of planting soil after local farmers exerted pressure on the government to do so. In December, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries ruled that rice could not be planted in land where cesium exceeding 100 Bq/kg was discovered last year. However, it now says that rice may be planted in land where cesium measures between 100 Bq/kg and 500 Bq/kg, provided that the land is decontaminated and every bag of rice is tested. Many residents remain unconvinced that the rice will be safe for consumption. The chair of a national consumer advocacy association noted, “There have already been cases of rice with contamination over the government limit being shipped, even though it was promised that it wouldn’t happen. Won’t some sneak through this time as well?….” http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/fukushima-nuclear-crisis-update-for-february-/blog/39340/

March 3, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Nuclear power industry in meltdown

Why nuclear is in meltdown, Telegraph UK, Britain’s atomic plants will be cut from 10 to just one in little more than a decade. By Geoffrey Lean  02 Mar 2012 This week the world’s longest-running nuclear power station ran out of steam. At 11am on Wednesday, the appropriately named Oldbury in Gloucestershire – once a location for a Doctor Who storyline – was switched off after 44 years, as part of a wider shutdown that will cut Britain’s 10 atomic plants to just one in little more than a decade.

That same morning, just down the Severn Estuary, protesters were evicted from a deserted farmhouse on the site of the first of the new reactors designed to replace them. But the original start-up date for the plant – to be built by the French firm EDF at Somerset’s Hinkley Point – has already slipped by two years, from 2017 to 2019, and this week it emerged that the Office for Nuclear Regulation is delaying its safety approval.

It’s an ominous picture as next weekend’s anniversary of the Japanese tsunami and the disaster at Fukushima approaches – yet Britain is supposed to be one of the world’s few nuclear bright spots……
Elsewhere, the “nuclear renaissance” before Fukushima – which saw more than 400 reactors in construction or in the pipeline – has gone into reverse. Continue reading →

March 3, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

“State of the Art Reactor Consequence Analysis” (SOARCA) downplays nuclear accident impacts

NRC should immediately withdraw its absurd SOARCA report, and get about the business of protecting public health, safety, and the environment — its mandate — rather than doing the nuclear power industry’s bidding by downplaying risks as at Peach Bottom 2 and 3

“Demonic” reality of Fukushima, versus absurdity of NRC Beyond Nuclear 2 Mar 12, I”……..On March 13, 2011, even as Fukushima Daiichi’s reactors were melting down and exploding, and its storage pools at risk of boiling or draining dry and the high-level radioactive waste catching fire, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provided false assurance to the U.S. public and news media, that no harmful levels of radioactive fallout would reach U.S. territories. However, at the very same time, we now know, NRC was itself worried about potentially hazardous levels of radioactive Iodine-131 reaching Alaska.

Just last week, NRC held public meetings about its newly unveiled, so-called “State of the Art Reactor Consequence Analysis” (SOARCA). One meeting took place near the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, not far from Philadelphia or Washington D.C., where two General Electric Boiling Water Reactors of the Mark I design (GE BWR Mark I) operate. Paul Gunter, Beyond Nuclear’s Reactor Oversight Project Director, attended and testified. Continue reading →

March 3, 2012 Posted by | spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Iran would use nuclear weapon only if attacked, says Israeli expert

AUDIO Iran unlikely to use nuclear weapon unless it is attacked – Israeli expert March 03, 2012  http://news.am/eng/news/95743.html YEREVAN. – Iran is unlikely to use nuclear weapon if it had it, Israeli expert Vanessa Seyman told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“You can see a lot of things about the Iranian leadership but they are not stupid. The strength of having a nuclear weapon is much stronger than using it. They will use it only if they are attacked,” said Seyman, head of training and R&D at Israeli NEST Consulting center. The expert considers that the situation over Iran resembles Cold War between U.S. and USSR.

“It is more a psychological war than an actual weapon war,” she emphasized. Speaking about the Iranian nuclear problem in the context of the Middle East processes, Seyman said the Iranian issue is much bigger than only the Middle East. “Right now the most important thing is to keep the international efforts in order to prevent Iran from getting obtaining nuclear weapon,” she added.

March 3, 2012 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

A possible thawing? North Korean official to visit USA

N. Korean nuclear official to attend U.S. conference, Philly.com, By Jean H. Lee Associated Press, 2 March 12,  SEOUL, South Korea – In another sign of warming relations between two wartime foes, a senior North Korean nuclear negotiator will attend a security conference in the United States, a U.S. official confirmed Thursday Word of Ri Yong Ho’s visit to the forum held by Syracuse University comes on the heels of a breakthrough agreement that will provide much-needed U.S. food aid to North Korea in exchange for a rollback of its nuclear programs.

The agreement announced Wednesday sets in motion a plan laid out by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il before his death in December: to improve relations with the United States and to get back to six-nation disarmament-for-aid negotiations. Significant challenges remain, however, in achieving the long-term goal of the United States and other nations: to persuade Pyongyang to end its nuclear ambitions altogether…

.. In a possible sign of things to come, Ri, North Korea’s vice foreign minister and envoy to nuclear-disarmament negotiations, has been cleared to travel to the United States to attend the Syracuse University forum…. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/141133413.html

March 3, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

USA govt plans secretly to gaol Julian Assange

On Monday, WikiLeaks began releasing more than 5 million Stratfor emails which it said showed ”how a private intelligence agency works, and how they target individuals for their corporate and government clients”.

Revealed: US plans to charge Assange, SMH, Philip Dorling, February 29, 2012 UNITED STATES prosecutors have drawn up secret charges against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, according to a confidential email obtained from the private US intelligence company Stratfor.

In an internal email to Stratfor analysts on January 26 last year, the vice-president of intelligence, Fred Burton, responded to a media report concerning US investigations targeting WikiLeaks with the comment: ”We have a sealed indictment on Assange.”

He underlined the sensitivity of the information – apparently obtained from a US government source – with warnings to ”Pls [please]
protect” and ”Not for pub[lication]”. Continue reading →

March 3, 2012 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Wikileaks | Leave a comment

Energy efficiency is the biggest answer to greenhouse gas pollution

Analysts Say Efficiency Key to Clean Energy Future in Australia Voice of America, Phil Mercer March 02, 2012 Sydney International experts meeting in Australia say global carbon emissions can be reduced by more than 50 percent through simple energy saving measures. Attendees at a conference in Australia, which increasingly relies on coal for power, say that reducing power consumption is an affordable way to both cut energy costs and reduce pollution.

While many nations turn to cheap and dirty energy sources, such as coal, to meet their increasing energy needs, analysts in Australia say the best way to meet those needs is to improve energy efficiency

.A range of simple solutions include using energy-efficient homes, household appliances and lighting, and driving electric cars.

Encouraging homeowners and office workers to switch off their televisions and computers at the end of the day is also seen as an effective way to save electricity.

Cutting consumption Grayson Heffner, from the Paris-based International Energy Agency, says curbing consumption could significantly cut global carbon emissions. He calls efficiency strategies the “soft giant” of clean energy.

“We forecast that energy efficiency will deliver something like three-quarters of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions over the
next 20 years.  So in the short term energy efficiency is the main way that we reduce greenhouse gas emissions but oftentimes it is no so prominently featured in the discussions,” said Heffner.

Energy conservationists working in China say authorities there are making significant cuts in power usage. ….
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Australian-Analysts-Efficiency-Key-to-Clean-Energy-Future-141165703.html

March 3, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Obama makes hawkish noises about Iran

Obama warns Iran he’s not bluffing over nuclear weapons, Herald Sun, by: By Mark S Smith & Anne Gearan in Washington From: AP March 03, 2012  US President Barack Obama warned that he is not bluffing about attacking Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon, in an interview published overnight

In his most expansive remarks on the issue so far, Mr Obama told The Atlantic magazine that Iran and Israel both understand that “a military component” is among a mix of options for dealing with Iran, along with sanctions and diplomacy. Continue reading →

March 3, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Non Aligned Movement states support Iran’s nuclear energy program

NAM approves statement in support of Iran’s nuclear program http://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/96006 Tehran Times, 2 march 12, TEHRAN – The Non-Aligned Movement member states approved a statement in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program on Thursday. Continue reading →

March 3, 2012 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

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