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Childhood leukaemia risk from very low exposure to ionising radiation

Natural gamma rays linked to childhood leukaemia, University of Oxford, 12 June 12,  A small but statistically significant link between risk of childhood leukaemia and the gamma rays we are all exposed to from our natural environment has been detected in a very large study led by Oxford University researchers.

Exposure to gamma rays from natural sources in the environment isn’t something that can readily be altered, but the study adds to our understanding of the small cancer risks associated with other low doses of radiation, such as from medical X-rays and CT scans. The findings demonstrate that there are small effects of radiation at very low doses.

Guidelines on exposure to low doses of radiation have largely been based on estimated risks from models using data from Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs, where radiation exposures were brief and very much higher. As a result, there have been some long-standing uncertainties about the extrapolation of these risks to low radiation doses.

The researchers conclude that the size of the increased risk of childhood leukaemia with natural gamma-ray exposure is consistent with these models and supports their continued use in radiation protection. The results of the study contradict the idea that there are no adverse radiation effects, or might even be beneficial effects, at these very low doses and dose rates. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | health, Reference, UK | Leave a comment

New book on the plutonium scandal at Rocky Flats

Under The ‘Nuclear Shadow’ Of Colorado’s Rocky Flats  88.7 kuhf.fm June 12, 2012 Kristen Iversen spent her childhood in the 1960s in Colorado near the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons factory, playing in fields that now appear to have been contaminated with plutonium.

In Full Body Burden, she investigates the environmental scandal involving nuclear contamination around her childhood home. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | - plutonium, resources - print | Leave a comment

Japan’s secrecy over the true extent of Fukushima radiation

Japan Used Claims of Inaccuracy To Divert Release of Critical Radioactive Material at Fukushima Nuclear Plant, Spy Ghana 12 June 12,  Japanese officials have failed to justify why it took them over a month to disclose large-scale releases of radioactive material in mid-March at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Proposed nuclear reactor restarts in Japan – ‘woefully unprepared for accidents’

critics say the offsite center in Oi is woefully unprepared for a severe accident on the scale of Fukushima. 

Fukushima Watch: Japan Gets ‘Feudal’ on Reactor Restarts  By Chester Dawson and Mitsuru Obe, WSJ, June 12, 2012  As the Japanese government moves full steam ahead with plans to bring back online the first nuclear reactors since last year’s crisis in Fukushima, the town of Oi is preparing to roll out the futons for a pair of long-term visiting V.I.P.s from Tokyo. The two high-ranking government officials are being sent to the rural seaside town as part of a promise made last month by nuclear disaster minister Goshi Hosono, in order to pave the way for restarts of Oi’s No. 3 and No. 4 reactors—a controversial decision amid widespread public anxiety about nuclear safety. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Virginia uranium study panel – bias in favour of uranium companies

“What we’re concerned about here is they appear to have hired a group that has only done work for uranium mining companies and that they’re going to go with them behind closed doors and come up with a uranium mining law and a set of regulations,”

Uranium mining foes take aim at Va. study panel, Bloomberg, By STEVE SZKOTAK, 13 June 12, RICHMOND, VA.  Two environmental groups opposed to ending a 30-year state ban on uranium mining in Virginia have raised new complaints about a state panel studying the issue and the hiring of a consultant they say has too many industry ties. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | politics, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Private enterprise is the major funder for new renewable energy

Who’s funding the green energy revolution? By Eoghan Macguire,   June 12, 2012 – (CNN) — Money invested in renewable energy reached new heights last year, topping $257 billion.

So is the world finally going green?

The figures come from The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2012 report, a UN Environment Program backed study that has tracked the finance flowing into green energy across the world since 2004.

It found that renewables accounted for 44% of all new energy generation capacity added last year, up from 34% in 2010 and just 10.3% back in 2004.

The source for most of this finance came from the private sector, according to the report. Investment from the private domain in research and development of new technologies was almost double that of governments and public bodies.

While Europe attracts most of the investment, the renewable energy sectors of emerging economies such as India and China have been given the biggest boost.

China overtook the U.S. in terms of total annual investment in renewable energy in 2009 and attracted more money than any other country ($52.2 bn) in 2011.

India meanwhile saw the fastest expansion rate for any large renewables market last year, with a 62% increase in capital funding…… http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/12/world/renewables-finance-unep/

June 13, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, renewable | Leave a comment

UK public kept in the dark on negotiations for nuclear power subsidy

SSE attacks secrecy of nuclear subsidy talks, Government negotiations with French energy giant EDF over subsidies for new nuclear power are being conducted in “a smoke-filled room”, the chief executive of rival company SSE claimed yesterday. Telegraph UK, By Emily Gosden  12 Jun 20122   Ian Marchant attacked the lack of transparency in the talks as he warned MPs on the energy select committee that ministers’ plans to reform the energy sector were so complex and risky as to leave consumers “paying a higher price”.

Under the proposals, companies building nuclear and renewable power generation would be guaranteed a return on their investment through contracts setting the price they will be paid for electricity…… in evidence to the committee, Mr Marchant said the Energy Secretary would
be agreeing long-term contracts “without any level of public scrutiny of what is being paid for, how much is being paid or why it is being paid at a particular level”.

“Consumers will be liable to pay for contracts, potentially for up to 40 years, which they have no visibility of, and no input into,” he warned….. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/9327801/SSE-attacks-secrecy-of-nuclear-subsidy-talks.html

June 13, 2012 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

UK’s nuclear power plans for Hinkley Point are ‘stumbling’

Hinkley Point plan hit by fresh criticism as police anticipate protest action  http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Hinkley-Point-plan-hit-fresh-criticism-police/story-16337609-detail/story.html, June 11, 2012 Western Daily Press Plans to build Britain’s first nuclear power station for 20 years in the West Country have been hit by a barrage of new criticism.

Police have warned that the massive construction project will become the focus of major protests and attract a small army of transient and foreign workers. Anti-nuclear campaigners say plans by EDF Energy to construct two reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset are “stumbling”, with 30 major issues still unresolved. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

Yet again, radioactive materials found at Dalgety Bay, Scotland

More radiation discovered on beach, Google Hosted News, (UKPA) – 13 June 12 A third significantly radioactive particle has been recovered from a beach at the centre of a contamination scare, it has emerged. Tests are now being carried out on the particle found by scientists in front of the headland at Dalgety Bay, Fife at the end of April.
It was discovered outside the area which is cordoned-off to the public, but in a section of beach said to be used infrequently.
More than 2,000 radioactive particles are thought to have been uncovered since October last year, when high-activity radiation was found at the bay and parts of the beach were closed….. “The source, which further demonstrates the need for a comprehensive investigation
of the contamination, is currently undergoing testing.”
Radioactive material was found on the Dalgety Bay foreshore 22 years ago. The contamination is thought to stem from residue of radium-coated instrument panels used on military aircraft which were incinerated and put in landfill in the area at the end of the Second World War. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jAo-QrsuKQSJecRRyOFjfxRnjx8w?docId=N0240891339516232548A

June 13, 2012 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

Medical alarm over increase in CT scans, and the risks of cancer

Physicians are not required to inform patients in writing about the radiation risks of CTs. But Dr. Richard Semelka, director of MRI services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the time has come for that to change.

“It should be abundantly clear by now that ionizing radiation does carry with it the risk of cancer,”

Use of imaging tests soars, raising questions on radiation risk,, Study finds use of CT scans has nearly tripled in the last 15 years. Such radiation exposure increases the risk of cancer. By Jon Bardin, Los Angeles Times June 13, 2012
The use of CTs, MRIs and other advanced medical imaging tests has soared over the last 15 years, according to new research that raises questions about whether the benefits of all these scans outweigh the potential risks from radiation exposure and costs to the healthcare system. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | health, USA | Leave a comment

Gloom in UK Parliament about the doubtful future of nuclear power

“It is a worry for the government that EDF is so downbeat. They are the only horse left in this race and if they falter it might mean the end of the whole [nuclear] programme.

The planned reforms, laid out in the government’s recent paper, have come under fire from some energy companies as a veiled subsidy for nuclear power

UK nuclear plans ‘need saving by David Cameron and Francois Hollande’ Commons committee chairman Tim Yeo says heads of state must intervene, after EDF casts doubt on its UK investment Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent guardian.co.uk,   12 June 2012  The prime minister must step in urgently to rescue the UK’s nuclear power programme, or risk it failing, a senior Tory has warned after French nuclear company EDF gave a downbeat report on the prospects for a new fleet of reactors in the UK.

Chairman of the influential energy and climate change committee and former Tory cabinet minister Tim Yeo said that Cameron must speak to his French counterpart, Francois Hollande, in order to decide what conditions are necessary for the state-owned French utility to fulfil its planned investment.

“This is something that can only be done by the heads of government of Britain and France,” he told the Guardian. “There may need to be special arrangements for nuclear [separate from the regulation and subsidy of other forms of power]. Given the size of this investment – billions and billions, with a return on investment coming well into the 2020s – this has to involve the heads of government.”
Yeo was speaking after the committee’s MPs questioned EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz and several other energy company senior directors. De Rivaz was “very downbeat” on the prospects for new nuclear power stations, said Yeo. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Connecticut welcomes Appeals Court decision discouraging decades of nuclear fuel storage

Spent nuclear fuel storage decision praised, West Hartford News, June 12, 2012 By Luther Turmelle   A federal appeals court is forcing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to rethink its rules regarding how long spent nuclear fuel can be stored on site at current and former reactors.

State Attorney General George Jepsen called Friday’s unanimous decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia a landmark ruling. Connecticut was one of several Northeast states that challenged changes made in 2010 by the NRC to rules
governing waste storage at reactor sites.

Before the change, spent fuel could be stored on site for up to 30 years after a reactor closed. But the NRC increased the period of time to 60 years and made other changes to its rules governing the storage of spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants. Continue reading →

June 13, 2012 Posted by | Legal, USA | Leave a comment

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

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