Corporate disinformation about renewable energy
Renewable Energy Versus Industry Groups in Michigan SustainableBusiness.com News http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/23825 By Stephen Lacey, 28 June 12, Michigan is becoming the new ground zero in a disinformation campaign against renewable energy.
In an effort to expand the state’s renewable energy targets, a coalition of environmental groups and local businesses is gathering signatures for a November ballot initiative that would increase Michigan’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 25% by 2025.
But that’s not sitting well with large power companies and the Chamber of Commerce.
Yesterday, a group backed by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and two of the state’s largest utilities dubbed “Clean Affordable Renewable Energy for Michigan Coalition,” (CARE) rolled out a campaign to stop the ballot initiative before it truly begins.
The group’s messaging, which contradicts real-world experience with renewable energy deployment in Michigan and surrounding states, is typical for the heel-dragging, climate change-denying Chamber of Commerce. Even with the overwhelming positive economic evidence and the diverse range of businesses supporting an increase in renewable energy in the state, the Chamber and its utility allies say they’re ready to put up a big fight.
They’re not fighting with much evidence on their side. Continue reading
Thorium nuclear reactors not possible for decades to come
India needs to wait for few decades to use thorium in reactor DNA, , Jun 27, 2012, Bhubaneswar PTI Describing India as self-reliant in nuclear technology, Atomic Energy Commission on Wednesday said the country has to wait for a few more decades to use thorium as the base for nuclear reactors.
“Using thorium as the base for reactors will take time. We have to wait a few decades to make it possible,” Atomic Energy Commission Chairman R K Sinha said….. Replying a question on the possible use of thorium as the base for the nuclear reactors, he said the country needs to wait…..
North Carolina’s water faces danger from Virginia uranium mining
Virginia uranium mining ‘would be a huge mistake’ for NC HENDERSON, N.C.WRAL News : Beau Minnick, 27 June 12, — As Virginia considers lifting a 30-year-old ban on uranium mining, some North Carolina residents have been crossing the border to share their concerns about the possible environmental effects on this state.
Lifting the ban, which has been in place since 1982, would allow a Chatham, Va., company to tap into the nation’s largest undeveloped resource of uranium. The question is how that could impact Kerr Lake and surrounding bodies of water, which straddle both states. Continue reading
Poland delays nuclear power project – stuck on lack of finance
American-Japanese group GE Hitachi , France’s Areva and Westinghouse, a U.S unit of Japan’s Toshiba , have all signalled interest in supplying technology for the project that has already faced a number of bureacratic delays.
Poland’s PGE delays nuclear tender PGE will not launch tender as planned in Q2 Still working on financing model for project. Investment estimated to be worth $8.79-14.65 bln WARSAW, June 27 (Reuters) – PGE has delayed launching the technology supplier tender for Poland’s first nuclear power plant as it works out how it will finance the multi-billion dollar project, PGE’s chief executive said on Wednesday.
PGE chief Krzysztof Kilian did not say when the tender, previously scheduled for the second quarter of 2012, would move forward. The cost to build the first reactors is estimated at 30 billion to 50 billion zlotys ($8.79-14.65 billion). We will not launch the tender in June (as previously planned),……. Continue reading
Nuclear Regulatory Commission clears Gregory Jaczko of any wrongdoing
Inquiry on Nuclear Chief Finds No Rules Were Broken NYT, By MATTHEW L. WALD, 27 June 12, On the eve of the resignation of Gregory B. Jaczko, the chairman of
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the commission’s inspector general has issued a report that clears him of some of the charges against him.
Dr. Jaczko did not exceed his authority last year in directing his agency’s response to the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in Japan, despite his colleagues’ irritation over his management style, the office of the inspector general, Hubert Bell, said on Tuesday.
He did not make any unilateral decisions that affected companies that hold Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses, the report said….
The report was not immediately made public. The New York Times obtained a copy of the eight-page summary from a Congressional aide. Continue reading
Japan’s utilities meetings: shareholders demand end to nuclear power
Utility shareholders meet / Nuclear power decried; TEPCO’s de facto nationalization OK’d The Yomiuri Shimbun, 28 June 12 De facto nationalization of Tokyo Electric Power Co., which will receive a capital injection of 1 trillion yen in public funds, was approved at its regular general shareholders meeting Wednesday in Tokyo.
TEPCO and eight other power utilities that own nuclear power plants held their annual shareholders meetings across the nation on the day, with shareholders demanding the companies ensure management transparency and give up nuclear power. Continue reading
Japan’s TEPCO nationalised, will restart another nuclear power plant
Tepco’s New Chief Sees No Plan B To Revive Profitability Bloomberg, By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada – Jun 27, 2012 Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501), owner of the crippled Fukushima reactors, is committed to restarting another nuclear plant next year that is the world’s largest and itself was damaged in a 2007 earthquake.
Bringing the Kashiwazaki Kariwa power station online, even though it sets up the state-controlled utility for further conflicts with a nuclear-weary public, is part of “Plan A,” President Naomi Hirose, 59, said in an interview. The plan refers to a 10-year business
reconstruction that handed control of the power company known as Tepco to Japan’s government. Continue reading
Nuclear news for the past week
Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs
Renewable energy. Lots happening. Desertec’s grand plan to renewably power Europe. Solar plant for Fukushima area. A second long distance solar-powered flight. Rio conference – UN’s Sustainable Energy For
All” initiative, with private sector committing over $50 billion. Clean energy pledges, especially from Pacific Island nations.
India – the power generating arm of India’s largest conglomerate, the Tata Group, announced that it was shifting its investment strategy from coal-fired thermal plants to wind and solar renewable projects. Solar-powered scheme for in Obulapuram and surrounding villages.
Japan Fukushima nuclear plant – in danger of a new catastrophe. Thousands protest against restarting of Oi nuclear reactors. Seismologists warn of earthquake danger if nuclear reactors restarted in Japan. Radiation hotspots in Tokyo park.Little chance for Fukushima nuclear victims to get legal redress. High levels of radiation in Fukushima area’s fish.
USA. conflict of interest as DOE researches radiation effects. Hanford nuclear waste site – more costs, more safety problems. Vermont State loses court case to stop relicensing of Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. San Onofre nuclear plant closed for months, might never re-open.
Uranium price stays on its downward slide. In Central Africa, rebels attack AREVA’s uranium site.
Iran. USA hawks and Israel want military approach to Iran. Russia warns against attacking Iran.
Powering Europe with Sunshine from Africa and Middle East
How To Power A Continent With Wind And Solar http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3271 by Giles Parkinson, editor of RenewEconomy.com.au, 27 June 12 Of all the most ambitious renewable energy projects around the world, the European Desertec Industrial Initiative ranks right at the top- some would say fantastic in both the true and the modern sense of the word.The basic plan of Desertec is to harness the wind and solar power from north Africa and the Middle East and use it- along with similar resources from southern Europe- to help Europe cut 95 per cent of its emissions from its electricity grid by 2050, and to have renewables provide 90 per cent of its power needs.
A new report released by the initiative- which is a consortium of 21 industrial giants such as Siemens, E.ON, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Enel, and Shell- says this can be done, at the same time as reducing electricity costs and making the grid more stable than it would otherwise be.
The 2050 Desert Power report released late last week, co-authored by the Fraunhofer Institute, says that by importing 20 per cent of its energy needs from the Middle East and north Africa (MENA), Europe can save €33 billion a year, or €30 for each megawatt hour of imported electricity. Continue reading
VIDEO: Fukushima nuclear plant at risk of an even greater nuclear disaster
VIDEO http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3532725.htm Experts warn of another disaster awaiting at Fukushima Australian Broadcasting Corporation 7.30 report Broadcast: 25/06/2012 Reporter: Mark Willacy Japanese and US nuclear experts warn that another earthquake hitting Fukushima could spark a disaster worse than Chernobyl….
Legal action not an option for vast majority of Fukushima’s nuclear victims
Victims and lawyers in Japan say the dearth of nuclear-related suits reflects both a national mindset — a distaste for confrontation — and a stunted judicial system that doesn’t allow for class-action cases or punitive damages. Japanese speak of the court system as more likely to deliver frustration than vengeance, and jobless evacuees who urgentlyneed money have little appetite for long trials with uncertain outcomes.
Without the threat of legal action, ……”the state and companies can take advantage of victims.”
Nuclear redress will never approximate losses, By CHICO HARLAN, The Washington Post, 26 June 12, It was 15 months ago that the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant suffered three meltdowns and contaminated a broad circle of countryside and left hundreds of thousands of people without homes, jobs or both. But for all the damage and despair it wrought, the disaster so far has unfolded without one conventional element: a widespread and contentious legal fight by those who say they should be compensated for their losses.
Victims of the worst nuclear crisis in a quarter-century have filed roughly 20 lawsuits against Tokyo Electric Power Co., according to the utility. That compares with the several hundred suits filed against BP within weeks of the 2010 Gulf oil spill, including the near-finalized settlement of a class-action suit that will pay 120,000 plaintiffs upward of $7.8 billion. BP also paid out some $6.2 billion to victims via a neutral claims settlement process, administered by a lawyer appointed by the Obama administration. Continue reading
Conflict of interest, USA’s Department of Energy funds research into radiation
The Energy Department is also the main source of funding for radiation health research — much like having the tobacco industry determine the safety of smoking. This conflict-of interest is not new. Several prominent scientists on the nuclear payroll in the 1950’s and 60’s vigorously claimed that radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests was harmless. Some went so far as to assert that fallout might be beneficial because increased radiation-induced genetic mutations could weed out the weak.
A Radioactive Conflict of Interest http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-alvarez/mit-radiation-study_b_1623899.html HUFFINGTON POST, Robert Alvarez, 06/25/2012 Having the Energy Department control radiation health research makes as much sense as giving tobacco companies the authority to see if smoking is bad for you.
VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8YFe6Q08M8 MIT No-Evacuations Study Debunked Last month, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) heralded an Energy Department funded study indicating that evacuation zones around nuclear power stations might not be needed after a major nuclear accident. The study, which exposed mice to radiation levels comparable to those near the Fukushima nuclear disaster, found no evidence of genetic harm. “There are no data that say that’s a dangerous level,” says Jacquelyn Yanch, a leader of the study.
According to theMIT press release “current U.S. regulations require that residents of any area that reaches radiation levels eight times higher than background should be evacuated. However, the financial and emotional cost of such relocation may not be worthwhile, the researchers say.”
Dangerous to restart Japan’s nuclear reactors, warn seismologists
Seismic modelling by Japan’s nuclear regulator did not properly take into account active fault lines near the Ohi plant, Katsuhiko Ishibashi, a seismologist at Kobe University, told reporters.
“Instead of making standards more strict, they both represent a severe setback in safety standards.”
Seismologists warn Japan against nuclear restart http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3E8HQ43L20120626 TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) – Two prominent seismologists said on Tuesday that Japan is ignoring the safety lessons of last year’s Fukushima crisis and warned against restarting two reactors next month. Continue reading
The world cannot afford the dangerous distraction of nuclear power
The nuclear argument is a dangerous distraction that could direct resources and technical capacity away from more sensible responses. Nuclear power is certainly not a fast enough response to climate change. Even the pro-nuclear Switkoswki committee concluded that it would take 10 to 15 years to build one nuclear reactor.
Nuclear energy is a dangerous distraction, The Drum, Professor Ian Lowe, 26 June 12, No rational person without a financial interest in the industry would consider nuclear power for Australia. The only logical basis for contemplating its possible use arises from a recognition that climate change is a serious threat to our future.
At the turn of the century, nuclear power was seen as a failed technology. Originally touted as cheap, clean and safe, it was widely recognised as expensive, dirty and dangerous. The peak of installed nuclear power happened more than 20 years ago. Since then, cancellations and deferments have outnumbered new constructions. Continue reading
High radiation levels in Fukushima fish
Fukushima fish still hard to stomach http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2012-06-25/fukushima-fish-still-hard-to-stomach/967258, 26 June 2012 Japanese fishermen are facing a struggle for their livelihoods.An ABC report shows that many fish caught in the oceans around Fukushima contain dangerous levels of radioactive material. Continue reading
1 This Month
10 June – Assessing Canada’s Investments in Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – https://zoom.us/meeting/register/IiqHA5feRhaEBycOLNTJlA#/registration
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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