A nuclear free Japan begins today
The nuclear industry is clearly terrified that if Japan sees it can live without this dangerous and expensive technology then it’s game over for them. The fantastic example being set by Japan can only encourage other countries to follow suit.
54 reactors down: Japan breaks free of nuclear power http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/54-reactors-down-japan-breaks-free-of-nuclear/blog/40238/ by Justin McKeating – May 4, 2012 With tomorrow’s scheduled shutdown of Japan’s Tomari nuclear power plant the country will be free from nuclear power for the first time since 1966. Can it seize this historic opportunity? Here at Greenpeace we believe it can.
All of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors will be offline. Now, the country’s government must learn from its mistakes of the past, listen to its people and scientists, keep reactors offline, and usher in Japan’s renewable and sustainable future. History is within their grasp.
There will never be a better time. Since the terrible events of March 11 last year when an earthquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan has shown that nuclear power can be abandoned quickly and with an invisible impact on people’s daily lives. The Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Yukio Edano has said there will be no restrictions on electricity use or rolling blackouts. Continue reading
Despite the facts, nuclear lobby preaches success
“Nuclear Renaissance” Back on Track WDM Group PR Network, Business Review Australia NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – May 3, 2012) – Last year the Fukushima disaster in Japan started a downward spiral for companies in the Uranium Industry. Approximately one year later the industry looks to be finally recovering….. ”Fukushima put a speed bump on the road to the nuclear renaissance,” Ganpat Mani, president of Converdyn, said at a nuclear industry summit. “It’s not going to delay the programs around the world.”
UK government’s unsustainable push for nuclear power
The eye-watering expense of nuclear power, Guardian UK, by Jonathon Porritt, 4 May 12 The coalition wants us to depend more and more on nuclear power, but quite simply, it is too expensive to be able to deliver “….. It doesn’t really matter what you think: it cannot possibly deliver – primarily for economic reasons.
Nuclear reactors are massively expensive. They take a long time to build. And even when they’re up and running, they’re nothing like as reliable as the industry would have us believe. Continue reading
Japan’s leaders face the political crisis of public anti nuclear sentiment
In a direct snub to the central government, Mr. Hashimoto has appointed a panel of nuclear engineers and seismologists, who have faulted the stress tests for being conducted even before the government has finished its own inquiry into what went wrong at Fukushima. That criticism has resonated among many Japanese, who say the tests, conducted out of their view, were nothing more than a fig leaf..
Japan’s Leaders Fret as Nuclear Shutdown Nears By MARTIN FACKLER Japan Times, May 3, 2012 OSAKA, Japan — Barring an unexpected turnaround, Japan on Saturday will become a nuclear-free nation for the first time in more than four decades, at least temporarily. Japan’s leaders have made increasingly desperate attempts in recent months to avoid just such a scenario, trying to restart plants shut for routine maintenance and kept that way while they tried to convince a skittish public that the reactors were safe in the wake of last year’s nuclear catastrophe.
But the government has run up against a crippling public distrust that recently found a powerful voice in local leaders who are orchestrating a rare challenge to Tokyo’s centralized power. Continue reading
South African govt’s aim for nuclear power is looking unconvincing
The government’s pretence that there is a bidding war between nuclear power providers is also unconvincing. Companies from the US, South Korea and Russia have given up and a joint French-Chinese bid is the only game in town.
Nuclear drive more about foreign policy than energy, ANTHONY BUTLER: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=171008 State’s campaign to win public support for proposed nuclear power programme hampered by logic and chronology 2012/05/04 THE government’s belated campaign to win public support for its proposed nuclear power programme has been hampered by logic and chronology. Continue reading
Nuclear physicist plotted terrorist attack
Nuclear researcher sentenced in France for plotting attack (Reuters) 4 May 12, – A Paris court sentenced a Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist to five years in prison on Friday on charges of helping to plot an attack in France in 2009 with an al Qaeda militant in Algeria.
Adlene Hicheur, 35, a former researcher at the prestigious CERN physics lab in Geneva, was found guilty of providing logistical advice to Mustapha Debchi, a militant for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), using encrypted messages sent via the Internet.
Hicheur said he had been charged over his opinions rather than his acts, but prosecutors called him a “technical attack adviser” and said he had provided Debchi with a terrorist manual….. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/04/us-france-crime-idUSBRE8431CK20120504
South Korea’s push to export nuclear technology hampered by corruption scandal
Lee’s nuclear push meets obstacle Korea Times, 4 may 12, By Kang Hyun-kyung President Lee Myung-bak’s drive to win nuclear deals abroad has met an unexpected, formidable challenge from within as a state-run nuclear operator has been embroiled in malfunctions and corruption cases. Continue reading
Heroism of Japan’s saviour of Fukushima’s animals
Man stays to help animals left to die in Japan nuclear zone, by Susan Wyatt King 5.com May 2, 2012 This is truly a heartbreaking story – a 52-year-old man who lives in the shadow of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is struggling – all alone – to help the animals left behind after the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster.
CNN reported in January that Naoto Matsumura, a life-long resident and fifth generation farmer, has refused to heed the mandatory evacuation since the nuclear meltdown. The government evacuated 78,000 residents around the exploding plant without a plan to rescue pets and livestock. As Matsumura began to feed his own animals, the neighborhood’s desperate cats and dogs started showing up. He started to feed them too and decided he couldn’t leave them behind to die. When Matsumura ran out of food, he slipped out of the exclusion zone and bought dog and cat food and then snuck back into town….. Matsumura has been tested for radiation and said his body is “completely contaminated.” But he said he will die in his hometown.
A ChipIn page has been set up to raise funds for Matsumura. Click here to help
You can get updates about Matsumura via a Facebook page http://www.king5.com/community/blogs/the-pet-dish/Man-stays-in–149917285.html?c=n
Secret history of UK’s Dalgety Beach radioactive pollution
Secret report warned that Dalgety Bay posed a radiation risk.. in 1958 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2012/05/03/secret-report-warned-that-dalgety-bay-posed-a-radiation-risk-in-1958-86908-23846064/ May 3 2012 A SECRET report in 1958 warned of a radiation risk on a Scottish beach – but was ignored by the Government, it emerged yesterday. Continue reading
Can Israel maintain its secret nuclear arsenal?
Israel’s atomic arsenal could fall victim to a new U.S. nuclear policy Haaretz, 4 May 12, Senior Haaretz analyst Amir Oren says that if Obama wins in November, he will likely push for dramatic new reductions in nuclear arsenals; in addition to the U.S. and Russia, Israel may also have to give up some of the nuclear warheads it reportedly holds.
By Amir Oren “…..According to a secret document of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, which was drawn up at the end of the Bill Clinton administration and leaked during the period of the George W. Bush administration, Israel had “60 to 80” nuclear warheads in 1999. The document’s authors did not expect this number to change much in the next two decades….. http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/israel-s-atomic-arsenal-could-fall-victim-to-a-new-u-s-nuclear-policy-1.428231
Deception by Australian State Ministers about sales of uranium to India
Who is telling the truth? New South Wales Minister for Resources, Mr Hartcher? or the Queensland government?
In fact, both States prohibit uranium mining. New South Wales has recently allowed uranium exploration only.
THE HINDU 4 May 2012, reports that New South Wales Minister for Resources and Energy and Central Coast Christopher Peter Hartcher announced on Friday that both New South Wales and Queensland State governments in Australia had changed their laws which prohibited mining and sale of uranium.
Also Mr Hartcher is quoted “We also respect India’s decision on not signing the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT)” http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3384772.ece
See this article – No plans for uranium mining ban rethink http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-02/no-plans-for-uranium-mining-ban-rethink/3984350?section=business By Stephen Smiley ABC News May 02, 2012 “The State Government says it has no plans to revisit Queensland’s ban on uranium mining.”
Queensland Premier Newman has recently reiterated the position that uranium mining is banned in Queensland.
And as for Mr Hartcher “respecting” India’s decision on the NPT, he is in the minority. Most Australians are appalled at the idea of selling uranium to a country that won’t sign the NPT.
Non nuclear powers strengthen push for big powers to disarm
Non-nuclear states lobby big powers to disarm faster By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA May 4, 2012 (Reuters) – Non-nuclear states are urging nuclear-armed nations to disarm faster, while nuclear powers say they are making “unprecedented progress” in doing so, a divide on display at this week’s meeting to discuss the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Continue reading
Secrecy and exploitation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement
What Are They Trying to Hide? HUFFINGTON POST, Michael Brune , 4 May 12, Odds are that you haven’t heard of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. And even if you’ve heard of it, I’m willing to bet you don’t know what might be in it. That’s because, although this massive new trade agreement could have profound implications for our environment, our health, and the rights of workers, it is being negotiated in almost complete secrecy. Continue reading
$65 for repair to San Onofre nuclear plant
Repair bill for San Onofre nuclear plant could hit $65 million LA Times, May 2, 2012 | Edison International officials estimate that the company’s cost for inspections and repairs at the closed San Onofre nuclear plant will be between $55 million and $65 million, but said that the costs may be recovered under a manufacturer’s warranty. Continue reading
Apprehension in Kansas about radioactive waste shipments
Kansas regulates radioactive-waste shipments far more loosely than nearby Missouri, Iowa and other Midwestern states through which such waste travels
No one who ships nuclear waste through Kansas is required to tell state authorities of their plans
More nuclear waste headed to Kansas, By Gene Meyer | Kansas Reporter, 4 May 12, FAIRWAY — Missouri lawmakers may relax their state’s monitoring of radioactive-waste haulers, a move that worries some Kansans. Continue reading
1.This Month
Zoom webinar – “Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange.”
April 7th at 11:30 am PST / 2:30 pm EST
“Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange”
Join us for an informative webinar with renowned atmospheric scientist, Professor Brian Toon, as he discusses the environmental risks and global impacts of a nuclear war. Despite the potential damage caused by the blast from even small nuclear weapons, many countries continue to invest in and expand nuclear arsenals. Professor Toon will provide a scientific assessment of civilian fatalities, agricultural failures, climate concerns, and complications with food supply that would follow any international nuclear conflict. We need to plan how to prevent nuclear conflict and avoid catastrophe. Politicians and military planners must be made aware of global climate and agricultural complications that would ensue. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from, and engage in, this vital conversation.
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