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Significant nuclear news of the week

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

Australia’s nuclear news coincides with global news – in that  Australia’s uranium industry is looking sick, and so is the world’s nuclear industry.  BHP will not make  a decision on expanding Olympic Dam uranium mine until 2014, and has lost interest in its previously planned Yeelirrie uranium project in WA. Cameco has shelved its Kyntire uranium project.  ERA and Cameco not making enough money, (ERA a big loss)  .Meanwhile General Electric’s chief  Jeff Immelt, stunned the nuclear industry by stating that it was  ’hard to justify’ costly nuclear energy, and that the future energy would be gas, wind, solar.

In UK, French nuclear company EDF is trying to get funding partners for UK’s super expensive nuclear power plan.

Climate change news –  a top scientist for a USA conservative think tank has embarassed his funding body by announcing that climate change is real, and is human caused.   But that doesn’t bother Queensland’s Liberal Party – who voted for a policy of banning climate change education in schools.

But – that didn’t stop Australia’s Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, flogging uranium sales to that very unstable part of the world – the Middle East, – (and we might take back their radioactive wastes later on, as UAE hopes)

USA Militarism is in the air again, with nuclear expenditure rising to dizzying heights – for naval nuclear submarines $350 billion.  USA Congress looking at  a plan to base naval nuclear ships in Australia. Australia rejecting this plan, (but for how long, rejecting?)    Both Obama and Romney going hawkish.  The military -industrial complex getting enthused about drone weapons.  To get some insight into the thinking of these people,check out the official logo of the USA company Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons .   No, it is not a spoof. It is their real business logo.

In USA – a top secret nuclear weapons complex has closed temporarily, for security reasons.  Yes, a naughty 82 year old anti nuclear nun got in there, and threw red paint on equipment, and offered the security staff coffee and prayers!. This dangerous terrorist is now in gaol, of course.

In Japan – a huge anti nuclear rally. Also – revelations coming out about how TEPCO has been ‘cooking’ the books and minimising the extent and seriousness of the radiation from Fukushima. Japanese Greens party formed.

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

TEPCO will float balloon inside Fukushima reactor No.1

Tepco planning to float balloon inside Reactor 1 in early August — Inspecting top floor with spent fuel pool http://enenews.com/tepco-planning-float-balloon-inside-reactor-1-early-august-inspecting-top-floor-spent-fuel-pool    August 1st, 2012   By ENENews

(Subscription Only) Title:   TEPCO floats balloon plan to inspect reactor’s top floor
Source: AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
Date: July 31, 2012
[Tepco] plans to inspect the top floor of the No. 1 reactor building using a balloon equipped with cameras, possibly in early August.
The plan.. is part of preparations for extracting nuclear fuel from a spent fuel storage pool on the top floor of the No. 1 reactor building….

Inspection from above is difficult, because the No. 1 reactor building has been encased in a protective shield since October.

TEPCO plans to inspect the top floor of the building by floating a balloon equipped with four cameras through an opening in the ceiling that extends from the ground floor to the fifth floor….

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Fukushima workers made to cover radiation dosimeters with lead plates

Criminal? Fukushima Daiichi workers told to rip open radiation protection suits and insert lead plates — “Make sure nobody sees what you are doing” — Threatened with being fired ENE News July 21st, 2012    Follow up to: Fukushima Daiichi workers ordered to cover dosimeters with lead plates (PHOTO)

(Subscription Only) Title: TEPCO subcontractor used lead to fake dosimeter readings at Fukushima plant Source: AJW by The Asahi Shimbun Authors: Jun Sato, Chiaki Fujimori, Miki Aoki, Tamiyuki Kihara and Takayuki Kihara Date: July 21, 2012

Workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were ordered to cover their dosimeters with lead plates to keep radiation doses low enough to continue working under dangerous conditions, the Asahi Shimbun has learned….. Continue reading →

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Further cheating by TEPCO on Fukushima radiation monitoring

Tokyo Paper: Thick iron shielding placed below radiation monitoring post — Dose was double 5 meters away http://enenews.com/tokyo-paper-thick-iron-shielding-below-radiation-monitoring-post-journalist-dose-doubled-5-meters-away  August 1st, 2012    By ENENews 

Follow-up to: Japan TV: Monitoring posts show far lower radiation dose — Levels shoot up just steps away

Tokyo Shinbun article from March 2012 with summary translation on July 31, 2012 by Safecast member ‘the_STIG’ who lives in Japan:

Journalist Shoji Ozawa reported that surface soil had been replaced and that a thick iron shielding had been placed below a monitoring post in Iitate that measured 1.2uSv. He measured 2.4uSv when he walked 5m away from the post. The Ministry of Education currently publishes less than 1uSv for Iitate. Professor Imanaka of Kyoto University said that the current monitoring posts are not usable at all.

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Concern growing about poor safety of South Korea’s nuclear reactors

Nuclear reactor shut down for safety reasons, Aug.1,2012 Incident at Younggwang plant the latest in a long string of nuclear troubles, The Hanyoreh, By Noh Hyung-woong, staff reporter Reactor 6 at Younggwang Nuclear Power Plant in South Jeolla province was shut down again on July 30 due to a malfunctioning reactor rod….

The repeated problems with Younggwang reactor 6 have residents in the area nervous. Reactor 6 first broke down during a 2002 trial run. Since then, it has gone out of action 9 times in past 10 years.
Among those cases, some were trivial, due to lightning strikes and a mistake on operation. But in Dec. 2008, the reactor was stopped because warning signals appeared, indicating the reactor rod was in the wrong position.
Yang-yi Won-young director of Common Action for Nuke Free Society said, “The reactor rod is the last line of defense against a serious accident. It was fortunate that the reactor was shut down in time. If it hadn‘t been, it would have created a terrible disaster.”
Some brought up the problem of Korean-style pressurized light water reactors, citing their frequent breakdowns. “The reactors that recently broke down, including reactor 6 at the Younggwang plant, are localized as Korean style,” said Professor Suh Kune-yull at the
Nuclear Engineering Dept. of Seoul National University. “It seems that their electronic circuits and other components fail frequently.”…..
more and more people raised the questions of the safety of nuclear power plants. In particular, the Younggwang accident happened while MKE has been moving to restart Kori Nuclear reactor No.1…… http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/545178.html

August 2, 2012 Posted by | safety, South Korea | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons proliferation danger in Australia selling uranium to unstable Middle East

by Dave Sweeney, 2 August 12, The federal government’s decision to sell uranium to the United Arab Emirates lacks credibility and has the potential to undermine efforts towards nuclear non-proliferation in the Middle East, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today. “In the shadow of Fukushima – an ongoing crisis directly fuelled by Australian uranium – nuclear power is under a cloud as an energy source.

 “Japan closed all its nuclear plants for safety testing, Germany has committed to get out of nuclear power within a decade and nations such as Switzerland, Belgium and Italy are moving away from nuclear power.    “Plans for new nuclear power reactors in the UK and USA face increased community resistance and scrutiny and increased regulatory compliance costs.

“But despite repeated domestic and international calls, including from the UN Secretary General, the federal government has done nothing to review or enhance nuclear security regimes, bi-lateral safeguards or chain-of-custody arrangements.

“The United Arab Emirates, an alliance of seven monarchies in which each monarch retains absolute power, sits in the middle of an unstable region.  “The Arab Spring has not fully sprung in the UAE.  “To state that Australian uranium will not be misused because it is in the UAE’s interest not to misuse is naïve and lacks credibility.

“This move by the federal government has the potential to undermine efforts to advance nuclear non-proliferation in the Middle East. “Australia’s uranium export policy continues to be driven by commercial interests, not the national interest. “The Australian Conservation Foundation has serious concerns about the adequacy and capacity of the international nuclear safeguards regime.”

August 2, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Human effect on the atmosphere leads to skin cancer in fish

A whopping 15% of the fish surveyed had melanoma. … While 15% sounds high, Sweet and his colleagues believe it’s only a minimum estimate. “Once the cancer spreads further you would expect the fish to become quite sick, becoming less active and possibly feeding less, hence less likely to be caught. This suggests the actual percentage affected by the cancer is likely to be higher than observed in this study.”….

Fish with Melanoma – Our Enduring Environmental Legacy Scientific American. By Christie Wilcox | August 1, 2012 |     We’ve all heard the horror stories.   Melanoma is one of the most dangerous kinds of skin cancer, killing around 50,000 people worldwide every year. If caught early enough, it can be cured, but once it invades past the skin, it’s deadly. On the advice of doctors, we try to protect ourselves, donning floppy hats and coat upon coat of SPF 50 sunblock. We pick over our bodies in the mirror regularly, looking for dark, irregularly-shaped spots.  . The recent rise in the incidence of skin cancer,   though, is our own fault.

It is the result of our environmental hubris, a combination of a chemically-depleted ozone layer and our pathological obsession with a tanned physical appearance. Now, we’re becoming increasingly aware that our choices don’t just impact our own species. The rest of life has to deal with our poor decisions, and studies are just now determining the wide-ranging consequences of our actions.
Unable to slather on sunscreen, the creatures on our planet are much more limited in their ability to deal with the sun’s radiation Continue reading →

August 2, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, oceans | Leave a comment

Japan’s nuclear radiation “no immediate risk” – code for “long term danger”

Reuters: ‘No immediate risk to health’ is same as saying there is a ‘long-term risk to health’ -Farmer http://enenews.com/reuters-no-immediate-risk-to-health-is-same-as-saying-theres-a-long-term-risk-to-health-farmer  August 1st, 2012    By ENENews 
Title: Fukushima residents say resounding no to nuclear energy  Source: Reuters
Author: Kiyoshi Takenaka Date: Aug 1, 2012
Get out of nuclear power and do it fast, angry Fukushima residents told Japanese government officials on Wednesday at a public hearing on energy policy held in an area ravaged by a nuclear disaster that has whipped up opposition to atomic power….

“I want all the reactors in Japan shut immediately and scrapped,” a grey-haired woman, who introduced herself as a farmer living 65 km (40 miles) from the Fukushima plant, said at the public hearing in the prefecture capital.

“Many people are now aware that the government’s talking of ‘no immediate risk to health’ is tantamount to ‘long-term health risk’,” she said to the applause of about 200 residents packed in a small concert hall.

August 2, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation levels – Tepco cheats on monitoring

Japan TV: Monitoring posts show far lower radiation dose — Levels shoot up just steps away http://enenews.com/japan-tv-monitoring-posts-show-far-lower-radioactivity-levels-shoot-up-just-steps-away-tokyo-professor  August 1st, 2012  By ENENews Fukushima
Title: TEPCO cheating on radiation levels by using “improved” monitoring postsSource: Safecast  Author: the_STIG (Permanent foreign resident of Japan for over 30 years)Date: July 31, 2012 Link (Japanese Only): http://blog.fujitv.co.jp/tokudane/E20120716005.html

On July 17, 2012, the Japanese TV morning news show “Tokudane” reported that 31 out of 38 monitoring posts in 6 cities in Fukushima showed far lower radiation levels than the general actual levels for the areas where the monitoring posts are in. They measured the radiation levels with Professor Kato of Tokyo Metropolitan University. When they use a survey meter and walk a few steps away from the monitoring posts, the radiation levels shoot sharply up. One post measured 0.24uSv while a measurement showed 0.41uSv only one meter away. A monitoring post in South Iitate indicated 4.51uSv, but a survey meter read 9.5uSv. Professor Kato says that such monitoring posts have been set up on decontaminated spots. Citizens have been skeptical of their measurements for a long time.

TEPCO made a document for public release on April 20, 2012 explaining that they have “improved” the area surrounding monitoring posts by cutting trees within 20 to 30m, replacing soil and placing shielding walls, so that readings remain below 10uSv/h. It details the case of 8 monitoring posts, and they cite an example where the radiation dose went down from 83.6uSv to 9.7uSv.

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Oi reactors will be idled if fault under them is active, new nuclear safety chief warns, Japan Times, 1 Aug 12, Kyodo The man nominated to head the new atomic regulatory authority said Wednesday he expects the two reactors at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture to halt operations should there be any active fault found underneath them. Continue reading →

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Fukushima Watch: Former PM Kan Sets Out Vision for Nuclear-Free Japan, WSJ, August 1, 2012, By Eleanor Warnock Former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, whose term was marked by the earthquake and tsunami last year, furthered his reinvention as an anti-nuclear activist on Tuesday with a press conference to call for an end to nuclear power in Japan . “After March 11, it’s fair to say I changed my thinking [on nuclear energy] 180 degrees,” he told reporters in Tokyo.

“When I saw that the country was in such a precarious situation, I thought, ‘What is a safe nuclear plant anyway?’ My conclusion was that safety is only possible in a society that doesn’t rely on nuclear power,” the 65-year-old former leader said……  He said that his goal is to get parliament to pass a proposal — drafted by Mr. Kan and other lawmakers — to phase out nuclear power and increase Japan’s share of renewable energy from 10% in 2010 to 38% by 2025 …..  That goes further than three scenarios currently being considered under the government’s new long-term energy strategy: phase out nuclear power by 2030 , cut it to 15% of the country’s energy supply or maintain current levels around 20-25%…. “What I have to do now is steer the DPJ…in the direction of abandoning nuclear power,” he said. “How to react to the accident that happened in Japan is something that transcends party lines.”… http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/08/01/fukushima-watch-former-pm-kan-sets-out-vision-for-nuclear-free-japan/

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Smith rejects proposal for US carrier base ABC Radio AM By Naomi Woodley   August 02, 2012 Defence Minister Stephen Smith has flatly rejected a proposal to expand a naval base in Perth to accommodate US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier groups.

The idea for a $7 billion US carrier base on Australia’s Indian Ocean seaboard is one of many canvassed in a report commissioned by the US Defence Department from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies  think tank.

Mr Smith says while increased US access to the HMAS Stirling base is on the cards in the long term, American aircraft carriers will not be based in Australia. ”The report is an independent report to the United States government. It’s not a United States government document,” he said.

“We don’t have United States military bases in Australia and we are  not proposing to. What we have talked about in terms of either increased aerial access or naval access is precisely that – greater access to our facilities.” The West Australian Premier and Opposition Leader have also ruled out the aircraft carrier base idea………….
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-02/smith-rejects-us-base-proposal/4171086

August 2, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, politics international | Leave a comment

Uranium mining offers less grand legacy, Star Tribune,  Richard Dixon, 1 Aug 12  “……By all accounts, the uranium industry’s presence here would not even match that of Dan River Mills. It might last 50 years with some luck. And during that time it might just provide a few jobs – mining and milling dangerous ore – which just might give the county enough tax money to clean up the mess the industry makes.
But the legacy of the uranium industry would be far less grand than that of Dan River Mills. There would be no stately buildings to renovate, no White Mill or red-bricked buildings along the river to turn into shops, medical offices or museums.
Instead, the landscape of this county would be pock-marked with tailings ponds, to be tended at tax-payer expense for a long, long time.
Would agriculture return and flourish after the 50 years are over? Would the area attract positive growth, or would the industries here long established be gone forever?
These are deep, serious questions for all…..
http://www.wpcva.com/opinion/article_6d0fb8b2-dbfe-11e1-a249-001a4bcf887a.html

August 2, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Mystery still shrouds uranium tailings storage

It is presently unknown what type of containment system —if any — would offer any degree of protection to groundwater or for how long at Coles Hill.

Mystery still shrouds uranium tailings storage, Star Tribune,  Karen B. Maute  August 1, 2012 Virginia Uranium Inc.’ website states: “Much of the tailings will be mixed with a cement-like substance and put back into the mine shafts and drifts, and the rest will be stored in heavily-monitored and regulated below-grade storage facilities.” Continue reading →

August 2, 2012 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment