nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Solar energy brings clean drinking water to 10,000 Indian villages

A solar energy based drinking water supply system has already changed lives of villagers in naxal affected Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra where solar energy based dual pump piped water supply system has been installed.

10,000 Naxal villages to get 24 into 7 water supply, courtesy solar http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/10-000-Naxal-villages-to-get-24-into-7-water-supply-courtesy-solar/Article1-868921.aspx Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times New Delhi, June 10, 2012 You in India’s top cities may envy around one-fifth of total villages in 78 naxal affected districts set to get around the clock tap water supply, courtsey solar energy. Three Central government ministries — New and Renewable Energy, Drinking
Water and Sanitation and Finance — have come together to provide 24 into 7 clean drinking water to 10,000 villages in the Naxal affected districts under the Integrated Action Plan of the Central government. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, India | Leave a comment

Decentralised solar energy is transforming the economics of providing electricity

One of the reasons why the German government has reversed its decision in the energy changeover. It wants to give the companies more time to get out of their old investments and enter new ones.

The conventional energy industry will have to adapt to a more decentralized energy supply system very soon.

Photovoltaic solar energy may get even cheaper, Reve, June 11, 2012 What does the trend towards cheaper solar electricity mean for the energy industry? Interview: Gero Rueter / nh. Editor: Sean Sinico. www.dw.de

For the conventional energy industry it means a change of paradigm, that’s for sure. It’s something you can see very clearly when you look at the statements made by Germany’s big energy suppliers lately. When he retired, Jürgen Großmann, former CEO of Essen-based RWE, said photovoltaics essentially ruin the business for the conventional energy industry, because they’re pushing the prices down on the energy stock markets.

A member of E.ON’s executive board said a couple of days ago that building power plants in Germany is no longer financially viable because of the economic framework conditions, with renewable energies advancing fast and forcing down prices. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decentralised | Leave a comment

Prime Minister Noda backing nuclear restart, despite strong anti nuclear opinion in Japan

Japan’s Prime Minister Noda shows unyielding stance on nuclear reactors By Yoshihiro Kiyonaga and Yoshinari Saito The Yomiuri Shimbun , June 10, 2012  TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has once again expressed his unyielding intention to restart the nation’s suspended nuclear reactors, saying society “won’t function” without nuclear power..

.. Noda’s remarks drew a clear line between him and politicians who say nuclear power plants should be replaced with other energy sources, and were apparently based on the fact that the
suspension of nuclear reactors has disrupted people’s lives and the Japanese economy.

June 11, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

USA’s nuclear plant relicensing now stalled by a federal appeals court

at Indian Point and other facilities going through license renewal, those [radioactive waste] issues will be back on the table

Court Forces a Rethinking of Nuclear Fuel Storage , NYT, By  , June 8, 2012, WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission  acted hastily in concluding that spent fuel can be stored safely at nuclear plants for the next century or so in the absence of a permanent repository, and it must consider what will happen if none are ever established, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday .

In a unanimous opinion, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that in deciding that the fuel would be safe for many decades, the commission did not carry out an analysis of individual storage pools at reactors across the country, treating them generically instead. The commission also did not adequately analyze the risk that cooling water will leak from the pools or that the fuel will ignite, the court wrote.

The commission has relied on its conclusion that spent fuel rods can be safely stored at plants to extend the operating licenses of dozens of power reactors in recent years and to license four new ones. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Comparing USA nuclear reactors with Fukushima reactors

nuclear reactors in the United States were built during the same time period as the Fukushima reactor, before 1980. These reactors were all built using the same 80-year-old technology, which is to say they’re all just as outdated as Fukushima and the materials and equipment used are all beginning to show the same signs of wear and tear. 

What makes this scenario even more alarming is that Gundersen says the reactors in the United States hold 4-5 times more nuclear waste than the Fukushima reactor. 

Fukushima forum: Arnie Gundersen compares U.S. and Japanese nuclear reactors http://www.examiner.com/article/fukushima-forum-arnie-gundersen-compares-u-s-and-japanese-nuclear-reactors by Donna Anderson, 10 June 12  John B. Wells was at the helm for the Fukushima forum on the Saturday, June 9, 2012 edition of Coast to Coast AM . The first guest was Arnie Gundersen   who appeared on the show to share his expertise in the area of nuclear engineering and to make the American public more aware of the potential danger hiding in their own backyard.
Gundersen, who holds a master’s degree in nuclear engineering, has manged and coordinated design efforts for 70 nuclear reactors in the United States and has more than 40 years experience in nuclear power engineering. He’s currently working on the AP1000 nuclear power generator being built in South Carolina.

According to Gundersen the nuclear reactors in the United States were built during the same time period as the Fukushima reactor, before 1980. These reactors were all built using the same 80-year-old technology, which is to say they’re all just as outdated as Fukushima and the materials and equipment used are all beginning to show the same signs of wear and tear. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | Reference, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons industries control USA policy on military spending

The Nuclear Weapons Industry’s Money Bombs, How millions in campaign cash and revolving-door lobbying have kept America’s atomic arsenal off the chopping block. — Mother Jones, By R. Jeffrey Smith, Center for Public
Integrity   Jun. 6, 2012  Employees of private companies that produce the main pieces of the US nuclear arsenal have invested more than $18 million in the election campaigns of lawmakers that oversee related federal
spending, and the companies also employ more than 95 former members of Congress or Capitol Hill staff to lobby for government funding, according to a new report. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | politics, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

Taxpayers’ huge costs for nuclear power mishaps

During a visit to Chernobyl in April, I learned about a new project to build, by 2015, a “shelter” to lock in the radiation still emanating from the reactor. The price tag is estimated at 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion). But this sarcophagus is no more than a wildly expensive Band-Aid, which will be ripped off a still-festering wound in 100 years.

Then there is the issue of who pays to build such facilities. In principle, private capital does not flow to nonprofit activities. In fact, it is flowing to renewable energy sources, not atomic. 

It is governments—and thus taxpayers and bondholders—that finance nuclear plants. Moreover, the alleged “cost-savings” of nuclear power never include the price tag for direct and indirect governmental subsidies, decommissioning of aging facilities, and emergency cleanup and remediation of impacted communities when disasters occur—all, again, at taxpayers’ expense.

The road from Chernobyl, By: Alexander Likhotal, Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 11th, 2012  “……. While nuclear energy’s advocates often claim that there have been only two major calamities, a very different picture emerges if we consider other “accidents” that caused loss of human life or significant property damage.

Between 1952 and 2009, at least 99 nuclear accidents met this definition worldwide, at a cost of more than $20.5 billion, or more than one incident and $330 million in damage every year. This recurrence rate demonstrates that many risks are not being properly managed or regulated, which is worrying, to say the least, especially given the harm that even a single serious accident can cause. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | Leave a comment

World Health Organisation dancing to nuclear lobby’s tune on Fukushima radiation?

Dr. Caldicott says the WHO only focuses on thyroid cancer and ignores all other cancers and other radiation related diseases.

“There is a substantially increased incidence of thyroid tumors among exposed children, up to 50 percent of those tested by ultrasound. But instead of biopsying these tumors, they are ‘following’ them, i.e. doing nothing, which means they are
not being diagnosed and many of these children are therefore destined to die, because almost certainly
many of the tumors will be malignant,”     ….          She is far from alone in her views.

The Fukushima Battleground Over Science, By Aron Lamm, Epoch Times, 8 June 12,   More than a year after the Fukushima nuclear incident, there is still much disagreement about many aspects of its actual consequences. A recent example is a report by the World Health Organization, which estimates radiation doses and cancer risks in the wake of the disaster.
Its findings are being criticized by other medical professionals who use different assumptions and different science, and accuse the WHO of downplaying the gravity of the health risks for people living in the affected area…… Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Decommissioning nuclear reactors, expensive, but prudent, and cheaper than an accident

Europe’s approach is the prudent one…….America’s approach is to play russian roulette with 105 reactors that are already showing plenty of signs of serious wear and tear 
by Geoffrey Small,6/9/2012  The article (How hard is it to dismantle 150 nuclear reactors?)  fails to put costs and risks in their proper perspective. The cost of de-commissioning a nuclear plant is easily 1 billion euros or dollars. And no, these costs are never honestly factored in by the nuclear industry when accounting for costs per kw/hr or new-build construction bids.
But they are actually puny when faced with a major nuclear accident. At current best estimates today, Fukushima will cost well over 250 billion dollars. Not 1 but 250 billion. That’s a quarter of a trillion dollars.
And there are a truckload of unpredictable complications that could further push that estimate much higher, including another major accident involving the still-vulnerable spent fuel rod pools at reactors 3 and 4. And that is only for a single major accident. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decommission reactor, Reference | Leave a comment

Pro uranium mining bias in Nunuvat’s supposedly independent report

“It is not clear why the GN chose to have its background document prepared by Golder and Associates, a consultancy that depends on the mining industry (including uranium mining), rather than either developing it internally or seeking an independent consultant,”

Nunavut group says uranium policy process biased, Questions hiring of consultant with mining industry clients CBC News Jun 8, 2012   A Nunavut group opposed to uranium mining says the territorial government’s consultation process for forming its official uranium policy , which supports mining — with conditions, was biased. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | Canada, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Decommissioning is far cheaper than radioactive fallout cleanup!

 Decommissioning is far cheaper than radioactive fallout cleanup!  Here is a quote from an Areva Executive VP, made on 3/21/11:    “Clearly we’re witnessing one of the greatest disasters in modern time”
Left unmentioned in the  article,  (How hard is it to dismantle 150 nuclear reactors? ) are these TWO Important issues:

1. The TEPCO Gang controlled Labor Middlemen are also making a killing off this Trillion Dollar Eco-Disaster, by providing disposable labors like the original 50 responders whose records seem to have vanished, while making BIG money for TEPCO… See: http://is.gd/Ljj4Ff

2. Regarding the highly radioactive material itself:
I wonder if any of the Japanese Leaders are asking (on or off the record), what happened to all the highly radioactive materials that are now missing from Fukushima and what they are doing to recover them ASAP. Since it is true that that TEPCO is using GANG supplied labor then it must be worrisome that much of this highly radioactive material may have been stolen to be later sold to terrorist organizations because of it’s dirty weapon potential for BIG money! I hope some future terrorist dirty explosion does not contain Fukushima radioactive debris, as it will give the phrase “Made in Japan” a new meaning!

A comment from Capt D on http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/how-hard-is-it-to-dismantle-150-nuclear-reactors-europes-about-to-find-out/2012/06/09/gJQA2EH0PV_blog.html

June 11, 2012 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

How to get USA off its energy addiction

Here are my suggestion­s to get the USA off its Energy Addiction:
1. First priority is to shut down Nuclear reactors and eliminate the
….. Several Trillion Dollar Eco-Disast­er (STDED) RISK caused by Nature, which can
….. destroy any land based nuclear reactor, any place anytime 24/7/365!
2. Modernize all existing Coal generation to ultra clean exhaust (like Germany will do)
…..until newly installed Solar can take their “load” starting with the dirtiest ones NOW!
3. Use Natural Gas to supply “fuel” where coal will not be as cost effective.
4. Increase DEMAND (pun intended) for Solar of all flavors supplied by requiring them
… To be MADE IN THE USA units, and also create a huge number of new JOBS here…
5. Require 10 mpg increases to vehicle fleet averages every five (5) years, if not sooner.
6. New tax rebates for electric vehicles, if they replace ones over 10 years old!
7. Improve CA’s grid, so that many more residential panels can help power the State…. + Pay all energy providers the same amounts for Energy put into the grid.

June 11, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Europe’s challenge in decommissioning 150 nuclear reactors

How hard is it to dismantle 150 nuclear reactors?  Europe is about to find out http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/how-hard-is-it-to-dismantle-150-nuclear-reactors-europes-about-to-find-out/2012/06/09/gJQA2EH0PV_blog.html
Brad Plumer, 06/09/2012  Last year, after the tsunami and reactor meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, many European nations decided to phase out their existing fleets of nuclear power plants. Germany and Belgium are aiming to end all atomic generation by 2030. Switzerland is shooting for 2035.

Not so easy to get rid of.  Yet the mere act of shutting down those reactors is going to pose a huge challenge in the years ahead. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | decommission reactor, EUROPE, Reference | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation worse than we’ve been told

The meltdown at Fukushima is releasing far more radiation into the atmosphere [than the Nagasaki A bomb] and if unit 4 were to tumble, it would have the same effect as 1,100 A-bombs…..  much more radiation than we’ve been led to believe has made its way to the American shores. 

Fukushima forum: Dr. John Apsley says U.S. is feeling the effects of radiation, Donna Anderson Coast to Coast Radio Examiner  10 June 12, Dr. John Apsley appeared on the Fukushima forum on Coast to Coast AM on Saturday, June 9, 2012 .
For more than 30 years Dr. Apsley , author of “Fukushima Meltdown & Modern Radiation: Protecting Ourselves and Our Future Generations ” has specialized in cell regeneration and accelerated wound repair. He appeared on the show to deliver his findings on the effects of
Fukushima radioactive fall-out on the Japanese people, as well as Americans. Continue reading →

June 11, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment