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Fukushima radiation leaks bringing sickness to children

Japanese professor says Fukushima radiation leaks are harming children’s health http://www.straight.com/article-660131/vancouver/japanese-professor-says-fukushima-radiation-leaks-are-harming-childrens-health
VIDEO  Radio host Steve Zeltzer conducted the interview Akira  Murakami’s comments about children’s health are at 13:37 of the video.

By Charlie Smith, April 13, 2012 A media professor at Akia University in Japan has claimed that
children in his country are suffering serious medical problems as a result of last year’s Fukushima nuclear disaster.

In an interview on WorkWeek Radio (which works with Project Censored), Prof. Akira “Lazy Cat” Murakami linked the leak of radiation to kids have suffering nosebleeds, skin diseases, short tempers, and cardiovascular diseases.

Murakami said that the Japanese mainstream media is not covering the impacts, but this information is being disseminated to Japanese people through cyberspace.

“Our food regulations are quite loose,” Murakami said. “We have only spot inspections.” He called on Americans to do whatever they can to shut down remaining nuclear reactors.

“This planet could not afford another Chernobyl or another Fukushima,” he said.

April 14, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Japan’s government decides that 2 Oi nuclear reactors are ‘safe’, and can be restarted

Japan confirms ‘safe’ to restart two nuclear reactors Google News, (AFP) –14 April 12,  TOKYO — Japan on Friday confirmed it was safe to restart two offline nuclear reactors in the wake of last year’s earthquake and tsunami disaster as the country faces a summer of power shortages.
Only one of Japan’s 54 units — in northernmost Hokkaido — is in operation, but it is scheduled to be shut down for maintenance work in May.

Restarting the two reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in western Japan will mean the country is not entirely without nuclear power. Industry Minister Yukio Edano said inspectors had “finally confirmed” the safety of the two Oi reactors…
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gu–S_r8tcy3zgXvqn_b_VkVAbdQ?docId=CNG.b9db698686022e61c12be4e24e911e29.851

April 14, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Don’t restart nuclear reactors, says Fukushima Governor

Fukushima Gov. blasts gov’t over push to restart nuclear reactors
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120413p2a00m0na014000c.html
April 13, 2012(Mainichi Japan) FUKUSHIMA — Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato, whose prefecture hosts the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, has spoken out against central
government moves to restart reactors across the country idled for periodic maintenance.

“The investigation into the Fukushima No. 1 plant disaster isn’t yet complete, but (the government) is already discussing restarting reactors. That is a problem,” Sato told reporters at a regular news conference. “It makes me question whether the government really understands how severe nuclear disasters are.

“As the nuclear disaster progresses, we hear of new incidents every day,” he added, referring to the frequent reports of spreading radioactive contamination and radioactive water leaks since the meltdowns at the No. 1 plant.
Sato also touched on the proposed new nuclear power regulatory agency, which was supposed to start work at the beginning of April but has not yet been launched, saying,

“There’s also a problem when the promotion of nuclear power is happening alongside the regulation of nuclear power, while the government has yet to present a long-term energy
policy.”

April 14, 2012 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

60 years of government welfare to the nuclear industry. Time to stop this.

Stop the nuclear industry welfare programme After 60 years, the taxpayer should not continue to subsidise multibillion-dollar corporations in the nuclear energy sector Bernie Sanders and Ryan Alexander guardian.co.uk,   13 April 2012    ‘It is shocking that the nuclear industry continues to receive so much federal support at a time of record debt.’
The US is facing a $15 trillion national debt, and there is no shortage of opinions about how to move toward deficit reduction in the federal budget. One topic you will not hear discussed very often on Capitol Hill is the idea of ending one of the oldest American welfare programmes – the extraordinary amount of corporate welfare going to the nuclear energy industry.

Many in Congress talk of getting “big government off the back of private industry”. Here’s an industry we’d like to get off the backs of the taxpayers. Continue reading →

April 14, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, politics, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

The cleanup of Moab uranium tailings – 17 more years to go?

Lack of funding to slow cleanup of uranium tailings (includes video) KSL.com Utah By Geoff Liesik , 13 April 12,  MOAB — Environmental crews have removed more than 5 million tons of radioactive tailings from the banks of the Colorado River in less than three years.

They still have about 11 million tons to go, but the pace of the cleanup is about to slow down. Continue reading →

April 14, 2012 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual, Uranium, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

French Presidential candidate to support Pacific Islanders where atom bombs were tested

Hollande vows more transparency over nuclear tests in French Polynesia http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=67463 Radio New Zealand,  12 April, 2012  The Socialist candidate for the French presidency, Francois Hollande, has promised French Polynesians that he would go to the bottom of the issue of the aftermath of the nuclear weapons tests.
In a video message to launch the formal campaign, he says what has been done in the past five years is not worthy, and not up to the expectations in terms of the impact the tests had.
Mr Hollande has promised greater transparency, and also endorses the initiative by French Polynesia’s member of the French Senate, Richard Tuheiava, for Paris to return the two test atolls.

Moruroa and Fangataufa were ceded to France at no cost in 1964 to allow its military to begin atmospheric and then underground nuclear tests. Although France recognised two years ago that its tests were not clean, the compensation law drawn up since has been widely criticise

April 14, 2012 Posted by | France, OCEANIA, politics | Leave a comment

Secrecy over nuclear problem, opposition to nuclear in Korea

Korea Hydro didn’t report the blackout and deleted it from its records before an outside inquiry discovered it, the committee said last month. The government is investigating why the incident wasn’t reported immediately, ….

 Almost 80 percent of respondents opposed extending the life of older reactors in a February poll of 1,100 people by the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement.

Nuclear Halt in South Korea Seen Boosting Coal: Energy Markets, Bloomberg News By Sangim Han and Yuriy Humber on April 13, 2012  “…..Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEP) (KEP), the nation’s electricity monopoly, says it may boost coal purchases to replace nuclear power generation if the Kori 1 reactor remains shut and the government fails to extend the lifespan of a second reactor.

Kori 1 was closed for safety checks on March 13, five weeks after a power failure caused the temperature of its core to rise. The operating permit for Wolsong 1 expires in November…… Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., a unit of Korea Electric that operates the Kori plant, announced its power failure on March 12, a day after the first anniversary of Fukushima. A 12- minute power loss occurred on Feb. 9 and sent the core temperature to 58.3 degrees Celsius (137 degrees Fahrenheit) from 36.9 degrees, according to the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission. Continue reading →

April 14, 2012 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, South Korea | Leave a comment

Adjoining prefectures oppose restarting of Japan’s nuclear reactors

The Union of Kansai Governments, which is involved in setting electricity conservation targets, remains unconvinced that nearby Fukui’s reactors can be restarted safely, 

Analysis: Japan reactor restart debate swells beyond nuclear frontline By Yoko Kubota OTSU, Japan | Fri Apr 13, 2012  (Reuters) – Japan’s nuclear power industry had never spent much time or money winning over the hearts and minds of people like Susumu
Takahashi, a fisherman angling for small sweetfish from the serene shores of Lake Biwa, a world away from any nuclear reactor.

But with the industry paralyzed after last year’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, and badly in need of public trust to get moving again, itmay wish it had gone to the trouble.

“If Lake Biwa gets contaminated, then that would be irreversible,” said Takahashi, a doctor who regularly casts his line into the mountain-ringed lake in western Shiga prefecture, which contains none of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors but sits next to Fukui prefecture which
hosts 13 of them.

“The lake is in our hands now but it is also for future generations, and contamination would be passed down for generations. I am against the restarts of halted reactors,” Continue reading →

April 14, 2012 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Farmers boost their income by also farming sunlight

“It is the sweet spot,”.. it doesn’t interfere with existing farming or grazing on prime lands. “It’s a way of getting yield from land that’s not paying enough.”…..

 the benefits of generating green energy are great, but the best part is that once the 20-year solar lease expires, the land can return to agricultural use….. “Years down the road it could revert to [agricultural] land,” .. “It was a win-win for everyone.”

Solar Energy Grows on North American Farms,13 Apr 2012, CNBC.co By: Trevor Curwin, A California solar power project developer is teaming with farmers to expand use of the alternative energy.  “It’s basically an opportunity to farm the sun,” says Recurrent Energy CEO Arno Harris, about his firm’s plans to build 500 megawatts of solar photovoltaic, PV, installations on farms in California and the Canadian province of Ontario.

The firm has contracted dozens of farmers in both areas, building five- to 20-megawatt solar PV installations on otherwise marginal farmland. Continue reading →

April 14, 2012 Posted by | Canada, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

European Union not keen to subsidise nuclear power

EU’s Oettinger Cool on Nuclear, Denies Subsidies Letter http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-13/eu-s-oettinger-cool-on-nuclear-denies-subsidies-letter.html By Stefan Nicola and Ewa Krukowska – Apr 13, 2012 European Union Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said he’s “hesitant” about subsidies for nuclear energy, denying a report that regulators had received a letter calling for support for atomic power.

The U.K., France, Poland and the Czech Republic urged the EU in a letter to consider nuclear energy a low-emission form of power generation that would allow it to be subsidized, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported today.

“I have not received any letter nor request of any member state asking whether they can fund nuclear power with public money,” Oettinger said in an e-mailed statement. “Nuclear safety, not financing, has top priority for us.”

The U.K.’s Department of Energy and Climate Change isn’t aware of the letter, an official said today, declining to be identified in line with policy. Denmark, the holder of the EU rotating presidency, received no such letter, Jakob Alvi, its spokesman, said by phone today. Germany, which plans to close its nuclear stations by 2022, also received no letter, said Stefan Rouenhoff, a spokesman for the economy ministry.

April 14, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, politics | Leave a comment

Florida’s Governor withstands Tea Party intimidation, and supports renewable energy

Scott defies tea party on renewable-energy bill, Orlando Sentinel, April 13, 2012|By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida  TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott late Friday disregarded pressure from tea party and conservative groups and a controversial measure including tax breaks for renewable-energy production to become law without his signature.

Scott’s decision effectively gives a victory to Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and lawmakers who say the state needs to take steps toward developing renewable fuels. …. Putnam issued a statement thanking Scott for his consideration of the bill (HB 7117),
which the commissioner described as a step toward a “smart, long-term energy policy.”

Tea party members and conservative groups such as The Heartland Institute and Americans for Prosperity had inundated Scott with calls to veto the bill  …
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-13/news/os-renewable-energy-bill-20120413_1_renewable-fuels-tea-party-tax-incentives

April 14, 2012 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Taxpayers have to take legal action to get the facts on safety of nuclear facilities

Why Do Taxpayers Have to Sue to Get Oversight of Nuclear Facilities? http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/04/why-do-taxpayers-have-to-sue-to-get-oversight-of-nuclear-facilities.html  Project on Government Oversight, (POGO) By ANA LIEBELSON, 13 April 12, 

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has just released the Performance Evaluation Reports (PER) for its eight nuclear weapons sites. But that’s only thanks to the activist group Nuclear Watch New Mexico, who filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for a FY2009 PER for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and then sued the agency for the report’s release after its request was denied.

The NNSA went ahead and gave Nuke Watch the FY2011 PERs that the group had also asked for through FOIA. These kinds of oversight reports are invaluable to the public, and we shouldn’t have to endure years of litigation to get them. Continue reading →

April 14, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

The world’s oldest nuclear reactors

Nuclear Halt in South Korea Seen Boosting Coal: Energy Markets, Bloomberg News, By Sangim Han and Yuriy Humber on April 13, 2012“….World’s Oldest The U.K, India, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and the U.S. have the world’s oldest nuclear plants, with 31 operating reactors aged 40 years or more, according to the London-based World Nuclear Association. No reactor has yet operated 50 years.

The U.S., which has the most nuclear reactors, originally licensed its units to run 40 years. Today, 71 of the 104 U.S. reactors have 60-year permits and 15 more applications are under review, according to the country’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission website.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-13/nuclear-halt-in-south-korea-seen-boosting-coal-energy-markets

April 14, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, Reference, technology | Leave a comment

Wellington set the trend for 105 local nuclear free zones

Wellington: 30 years proudly nuclear-free Capital was a benchmark for other cities The Dominion Post, MICHAEL FORBES   14/04/2012 Wellington became a benchmark for others. By the end of 1984, 40 local authorities had nuclear-free policies and by 1988, 72 per cent of the population was living in 105 locally declared nuclear-weapon-free zones.

“The declaration had repercussions way beyond anything I anticipated at the time,” Ms Ritchie says. “I’m pleased that it has stood the test of time. To have it stop at Wellington would have been insufficient.”

To even be able to put such a motion before council was a privilege, Ms Ritchie says; in today’s climate of local government being told to keep their nose out of non-essential matters, it probably would not have happened.

“It was in the days when we could actually do this sort of thing politically, which was great. We could move a motion that was not related to rubbish, rates or drains. Not even related to the agenda. Now, you can’t do that.”….. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6743621/Wellington-30-years-proudly-nuclear-free

April 14, 2012 Posted by | New Zealand, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Sarkozy said he went to Fukushima – but he lied

OOPS: Sarkozy’s Lied About Visiting Fukushima After The Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Business Insider, Sanya Khetani | Apr. 13, 2012, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will just not make things easy for himself. He was caught in another embarrassing political gaffe after his claims that he had visited Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant after the earthquake and tsunami last year were proved false, The Telegraph reports.

“I went to Fukushima [with then ecology minister, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet]… and unlike Francois Hollande, I can tell you the disaster was caused by the 42-meter wave from a tsunami. Frankly, I don’t see the immediate risk of a tsunami in Alsace,” Sarkozy told a 5,000-strong crowd in Normandy, according to The Daily Mail. He was referring to Hollande’s promise to close France’s Fessenheim plant in the Alsace region and scale back nuclear activities.

While Sarkozy was the first western leader to visit Japan after the tragedy, records show he did not leave Tokyo. “This is the first time in the history of the French republic that a candidate has told of a voyage he never made,” his rival, Francois Hollande said. Other politicians and even the Japanese media were merciless as well.

Sarkozy was finally forced to accept he had not been to Fukushima, telling I-Tele “I’m not an engineer, I don’t need to stick my nose in the situation at Fukushima…… http://www.businessinsider.com/sarkozy-fukushima-japan-france-2012-4#ixzz1s43ylIzh

April 14, 2012 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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