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Nuclear News Highlights of the Past Week

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

Global data reports that half of the existing nuclear reactors will be closed down by 2030

Japanese P.M. about to authorise restart of 2 nuclear reactors, although safety measures not fully ready before 2015. This puts him at political risk, as the public opposes the restart. Japanese government not yet able to agree on a new nuclear regulatory structure.  Govt and media focus on idea of restarting nuclear industry, while experts say that Fukushima plant is still critical.   Shareholders meetings of utility companies might impede nuclear restart.

USA  federal appeals court on   threw out a rule allowing plants to store spent nuclear fuel onsite for decades after they’ve closed, and rules that the NRC cannot license or relicense any nuclear power plant until after a lengthy process of examining risks of wastes. San Onofre nuclear plant to remain closed throughout summer, due to safety issues.  USA’s new Vogltle nuclear plant already $1 billion overrun in costs, and construction has only just begun.USA has so far in 2012 its warmest year on record.   Much angst as Nuclear Regulatory Commission gets rid of its safety conscious chairman, is choosing  a new one.

UK to shut down its Sell;afield nuclear reprocessing plant – not economic to maintain. UK has no plan for disposal of nuclear wastes. Construction on the UK’s national nuclear waste dump, to be built deep underground, is expected to start in 2075, though a location has not yet been chosen.

France.  In the struggle against South Korea, USA,, etc for nuclear export contracts, France’s  government owned AREVA offers prices for nuclear technology that are below AREVA’s costs.

India. government violates civil rights of anti nuclear protestors – even to the point of treating them as mentally ill.  Strong opposition to uranium mining by villages in  Mahbubnagar district.

June 14, 2012 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

Middle East nations to go for solar energy in a big way

Gulf states seek solar energy,  Gulf news, 14 June, Dubai: After decades of relying on fossil fuels to build their cities in the desert, some oil and gas rich nations of the Gulf are now turning skywards to the sun to meet future energy demands.
Ambitious multi-billion-dollar projects to harness the power of the region’s year-round blazing sun have already been announced by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Continue reading →

June 14, 2012 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, renewable | Leave a comment

Solar power the leader in rising renewable energy investment

the performance of solar owed most to “booming” rooftop PV installations in Germany and Italy, as property owners took advantage of falling panel prices.

Global investment in solar power jumped 52% in 2011: Report Startup Smart, By Michelle Hammond, 13 June 2012 Global investment in the renewable energy sector surged by 17% to a record $257 billion in 2011, a new report reveals, while total investment in solar power jumped by a whopping 52%. Continue reading →

June 14, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, decentralised | Leave a comment

Fukushima Daiichi – a global disaster still only in its infancy

There is every reason to suspect that the vital information about the full extent of the nuclear disaster in Japan is still being kept from the public; that the life-threatening damage to Japan’s nuclear infrastructure does not end with Fukushima #1. 

The Fukushima Debacle is Only in Its Infancy     The growing realization that the worst of the Fukushima debacle lies in the future rather than in the past puts in sharp relief the pertinence of Einstein’s observation.

Fukushima Daiichi: From Nuclear Power Plant to Nuclear Weapon Global Research, by Prof. Anthony Hall , 13 June 12, “Our world is faced with a crisis that has never before been envisaged in its whole existence… The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe.” Albert Einstein, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May, 1946

Albert Einstein’s Warning and the Ominous Fate of Fukushima Daiichi
As the bad news gradually spreads that the debacle at Fukushima nuclear power plant #1 is becoming more perilous rather than less so, the words of Albert Einstein come to mind. Recall that the legendary physicist, Einstein, helped to set in motion the Manhattan Project whose personnel designed and built the first atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945…..
Albert Einstein worried that human ways of thinking could not be made to adapt to the changes brought to the world by the tapping the enormous energy sources emanating from the molecular constitution of inner space.

Japan as Laboratory Continue reading →

June 14, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

The deep underground disposal of nuclear wastes

“Nuclear waste disposal in geological formations appropriately selected and designed is the least bad concept,” said Arjun Makhijani, a nuclear waste expert and head of the U.S.-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.
“Other solutions are so much worse that they have, rightly in my opinion, been ruled out,” he said.

Europe makes big bets on nuclear waste burial By Terhi Kinnunen  and Muriel Boselli EURAJOKI, Finland/BURE, France   Jun 13, 2012   (Reuters) – On a small Finnish island and deep in remote rural France, far from the debates and doubts that followed Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, the ground work is underway for a commitment to atomic power for the long term – the very long term. Continue reading →

June 14, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, wastes | Leave a comment

A positive book for our planet – “Loving This Planet”

Together with some of the most brilliant thinkers and inspiring advocates of our time, including Maude Barlow, Bill McKibben, Daniel Ellsberg, Lily Tomlin, and many others, Caldicott—whom Meryl Streep has called “my inspiration to speak out”—scrutinizes our unsustainable dependence on nuclear energy and the absurdity of nuclear arms and seeks to raise awareness about other planetary issues, including deforestation, sea-level rise, and privatization of water reserves.

Loving This Planet Leading Thinkers Talk About How to Make a Better World HELEN CALDICOTT paperback $17.95

PAPERBACK ORIGINAL MORE THAN TWO DOZEN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ADVOCATES DISCUSS THE STATE OF THE PLANET IN CANDID CONVERSATIONS WITH LEADING ANTINUCLEAR ACTIVIST DR. HELEN CALDICOTT
God bless Helen Caldicott. —LOS ANGELES TIMES  Ever since quitting her job as a pediatrician at Harvard Medical School in 1980, Helen Caldicott has worke d tirelessly for a safe, sustainable, nuclear-free planet, most recently by hosting a weekly radio show featuring environmentalists and leading activists from around the globe.

Together with some of the most brilliant thinkers and inspiring advocates of our time, including Maude Barlow, Bill McKibben, and many others, Caldicott—whom Meryl Streep has called “my inspiration to speak out”—scrutinizes our unsustainable dependence on nuclear energy and the absurdity of nuclear arms and seeks to raise awareness about other planetary issues, including deforestation, sea-level rise, and privatization of water reserves.

In these stirring conversations, we hear from Martin Sheen on the power of grassroots movements and the ability of unionized labor to influence politicians; Jonathan Schell, bestselling author and contributing editor to The Nation and Harper’s Magazine, on key environmental and economic fallacies; and award-winning nuclear engineer Arjun Makhijani on transitioning to a society based completely on renewable energy, omitting the need for fossil fuels or nuclear power. Continue reading →

June 14, 2012 Posted by | resources - print | Leave a comment

USA poliarised on political party views on energy

Republicans, Democrats at odds on energy issues Fox News,  June 13, 2012  WASHINGTON –  Republicans and Democrats seem to be living on different planets when it comes to how to meet U.S. energy needs. Republicans overwhelmingly push for more oil drilling. Democrats back conservation and new energy sources such as wind and solar power.

A survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that the polarized positions on energy that have divided Congress and emerged in the presidential campaign also run deep among the public.

While majorities in both parties say energy is an important issue, the poll shows that partisan identification is closely tied to people’s perceptions of the causes of the country’s energy problems and possible solutions. No other demographic factor — not race, age, gender or income level — is as consistently associated with opinions on energy as political party identification……..
The poll, made possible by a grant to the AP-NORC Center from the Joyce Foundation, illuminates one driver of this campaign season’s divisive political rhetoric: Both parties are playing to their bases.

So it’s no surprise that presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republicans push for more drilling for oil and natural gas, and President Barack Obama emphasizes renewable energy development as part of what he calls an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy.  http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/13/republicans-democrats-at-odds-on-energy-issues/#ixzz1xnz3id6w

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

While Japan’s govt and media focus on nuclear restart, Fukushima plant remains critical

 the government and major media are focusing too much on issues of the restart  .

Experts warn of possible catastrophe at Japan reactor, THE HINDU, TOKYO, June 13, 2012 Some nuclear experts are warning that spent fuel rods at a damaged plant in Japan could trigger a major catastrophe despite the government’s declaration in December that the emergency phase of the nation’s worst nuclear disaster was over. Continue reading →

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

Drones to monitor Japan’s ionising radiation.

Japan to develop drones to monitor radiation http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/sci-tech/japan-to-develop-drones-to-monitor-radiation-20120613-208zs.html#ixzz1xnWor9LB June 13, 2012 Japan’s atomic energy authority and the country’s space agency has announced a joint project to develop a drone to measure radioactivity in the environment after last year’s nuclear disaster. Japan has been forced to invent or improve systems for measuring radioactive contamination Continue reading →

June 14, 2012 Posted by | Japan, technology | Leave a comment

Dirty work at the crossroads – how the NRC got rid of Gregory Jaczko

Sen. Sanders says ‘McCarthyite’ tactics were used against outgoing nuke chief
The Hill, By Ben Geman – 06/13/12 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory Jaczko is on his way out the door, but Capitol Hill lawmakers aren’t done with battles over his controversial tenure atop the agency.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), at a Senate hearing to vet Jaczko’s replacement, defended the outgoing chairman against the various attacks over his management and behavior that have come from other NRC members and GOP lawmakers. “I am upset about the level of personal attacks that have been waged against him from within this committee and the NRC itself,” Sanders said at the Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.

Defenders of Jaczko — a Democrat who is a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) — say the attacks have stemmed from opposition to his nuclear safety efforts.

“Those personal attacks were a smokescreen for a philosophical divide that exists within the NRC,” Sanders, a critic of nuclear power, said Wednesday. “I think he was subject to McCarthyite tactics, and I hope we don’t see a repeat of that.”…. Jaczko announced his resignation in May but will remain with the agency until the Senate confirms his replacement….. http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/232539-sen-sanders-slams-mccarthyite-attacks-on-outgoing-nuke-agency-chief

June 14, 2012 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Storage of nuclear fuel wastes the big issue at NRC hearing

“Putting on my Blue Ribbon Commission hat, I wholeheartedly agree that we need nuclear repository sites,” Macfarlane said.

Questions on SONGS, storage of spent nuclear fuel fly at NRC confirmation hearing, Power Engineering, Jun 13, 2012 By Brian Wheeler, senior editor, and Sharryn Dotson, online editor The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on June 13 held a hearing on the nomination for Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko’s replacement, Allison Macfarlane. The committee also addressed the reappointment of Kristine Svinicki to the commission.
NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko on May 21 resigned, a position he held since May 2009, effective upon the confirmation of a successor….. Continue reading →

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

Time for USA to join the trend and ditch nuclear energy

Rory O’Connor is the author of Nukespeak: The Selling of Nuclear Technology from the Manhattan Project to Fukushima, and most, recently, Friends, Followers and the Future: How Social Media are Changing Politics, Threatening Big Brands, and Killing Traditional Media.   

Breaking up the nuclear family, Aljazeera, Rory O’Connor It’s time for the world’s largest economy – the US – to learn from Japan and Germany, and ditch nuclear power. 13 Jun 2012 New York, NY – In the wake of last year’s devastating nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, both Japan and Germany – the third and fourth largest economies in the world – have radically turned away from nuclear power generation to meet their energy needs…..

Unsafe and unnecessary Other European states, some with smaller but still sizable economies (including Italy, Belgium and Austria) have also pledged either to eliminate nuclear power entirely or at least to stop building new nuclear plants. Continue reading →

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

Official disinformation on the seriousness of Fukushima radioactvity

this same pattern of disinformation is being tragically repeated in the failure to depict the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe as the true monstrosity of an emergency it really is. 

Fukushima Daiichi: From Nuclear Power Plant to Nuclear Weapon Global Research, by Prof. Anthony Hall , 13 June 12,  “…….Radioactivity as a Slow But Sure Weapon of Mass Destruction……..More than any other crisis to date, the nuclear debacle at Fukushima illustrates the failure of our species, but especially those who put themselves forward as our leaders, to adapt old ways of thinking to the changes ushered in by the splitting of the atom.

The science of measuring and understanding the effects of radioactivity on biological transformations is still in its infancy. Nevertheless since 1945 the tendency has been for promoters of applied nuclear power to deny, negate, or downplay the effects of radioactivity on life’s natural patterns of renewal.

This culture of denial has its origins in the official response of US government officials to the radioactive contamination of all people, plants and animals that survived the first wave of destruction from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This unwillingness to contend with the effects of radioactivity on the public health of large population groups was captured in a headline in The New York Times on September 13, 1945. That headline proclaimed, “No Radioactivity in Hiroshima Ruin.” http://japanfocus.org/-Gayle-Greene/3672  Continue reading →

June 14, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Indian villages fight against uranium mining plan for Mahbubnagar district.

Locals dig in heels against uranium mining plan, Sribala Vadlapatla, TNN | Jun 14, 2012,  HYDERABAD: The dust on the controversy over uranium mining in Nalgonda district is still to settle and already the government has begun efforts to mine the resource in Mahbubnagar district.

Despite opposition from locals, authorities are going ahead with plans to hold a gram sabha at
Urumilla village in Amrabad mandal, in the Nallamala forest area, on June 14…… Presence of uranium in these villages, about 140km southeast of Hyderabad, was established 10 years back but strong opposition from locals saw the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL)
dropping the plan to mine the area…. Padara village has a population of roughly 8,000 people while Urumilla village is 1,500 residents strong.

“We will oppose any move by the authorities to carry out mining in these small villages,” TRS leader Nasarayya said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Locals-dig-in-heels-against-uranium-mining-plan/articleshow/14106609.cms

June 14, 2012 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear, Uranium | 2 Comments

Allison MacFarlane suggest New Mexico as USA’s nuke dump site

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nominee Talks New Mexico and Nuke Waste http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2012/06/13/politics/nuclear-regulatory-commission-nominee-talks-new-mexico-and-nuke-waste.html By , ABQ Journal,  Jun 13, 2012  President Obama’s nominee to chair the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. can learn all it needs to know about disposing of nuclear waste by looking at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad.

Allison MacFarlane, President Obama’s nominee to head up the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, made the comment at her confirmation hearing Wednesday, according to an article posted on the the Washington Post website today. I don’t think we even need to look to other countries for lessons [on how to handle nuclear waste],” MacFarlane said. “We’re the only country with a deep geological repository already up and running — and it’s in New Mexico.”

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future made a similar observation in January, when it released a comprehensive report on the thorny issue of nuke waste storage. I wrote about that report here.

Some in Carlsbad would like to see a move to store high-level waste in the area, citing high-paying tech jobs and science they think is now safe and sound. Anti-nuke foes in the state strongly oppose such a move. For now, with Nevada’s Yucca Mountain on ice, many pro-nuclear power advocates are taking an especially keen interest in New Mexico.

June 14, 2012 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

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