nuclear-news

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

US Power Company To Invest Another $883 Million In Solar by Energy Matters. 7 Aug 12,US utility Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) recently announced it will request approval to invest up to USD$883 million to develop an additional 233 megawatts (MWs) of solar energy capacity.

The company made the announcement at an event marking the start of a renewable energy project that will transform a dormant brownfield in New Jersey into a solar farm. This will be the fifth PSE&G  project that uses a brownfield or landfill site for energy production.

Brownfield sites are abandoned facilities often contaminated with materials that make them unsuitable for residential purposes.

“Every time we reclaim a landfill or brownfield site with solar panels, it’s a win for the people of New Jersey,” said PSEG chairman, president and CEO Ralph Izzo. “We are ready to do more of these projects and transform sites like this all over the state to generate more jobs along with clean renewable energy.”

The 1.06-MW PSE&G Hackensack Solar Farm is part of the utility’s Solar 4 All program. When the current phase of the program is complete early next year, PSE&G will have created about 175 direct jobs annually for the last three years and spent $300 million while developing 80 megawatts of solar capacity….  http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3327

August 8, 2012 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Mars probe records radiation blasts that could affect future
astronauts, NBC News, By Alan Boyle, 3 Aug 12 Even before its landing, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory has sent back its first scientific results — shedding light on the radiation exposure that astronauts would face during a future mission to the Red Planet. Continue reading →

August 8, 2012 Posted by | technology, USA | Leave a comment

Appeals court puts off ruling on Yucca Mountain
http://www.ktul.com/story/19189608/appeals-court-puts-off-ruling-on-yucca-mountain Aug 03, 2012 By FREDERIC J. FROMMER  WASHINGTON (AP) – An appeals court has put off deciding whether to force the government to act on a license for a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada.

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia panel won’t rule
before year’s end on whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must
act on a license for the Yucca Mountain site.

The dump’s supporters argue NRC broke the law last fall by letting the
Obama administration move to close the site. The NRC cited “budgetary
limitations” imposed by Congress in approving the shutdown.

The court on Friday ordered updates by Dec. 14 about congressional
action on the commission’s budget for 2013.

Judges Merrick Garland, a Democratic appointee, and Brett Kavanaugh, a
Republican appointee, supported the delay. Judge A. Raymond Randolph,
a Republican appointee, dissented.

August 8, 2012 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

NFS Receives 25-Year License Renewal
http://www.greenevillesun.com/Local_News/article/NFS-Receives-25-Year-License-Renewal-id-320606 12-08-03   BY KEN LITTLE

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Thursday renewed the operating
license of Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. (NFS) in Erwin for an additional
25 years.

The action prompted a positive reaction from NFS officials and an
angry response from longtime critics of the Unicoi County operation.

NFS has been operating on a 10-year license that expired on July 31, 2009.

The approval “means that the (NRC) has concluded that no safety or
environmental issues preclude renewal of the plant’s license,” NFS
spokeswoman Lauri Turpin said in a news release.

August 8, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

VIDEO Daniel Hirsch speaks at anti nuclear rally

Nuclear Expert: Substantial portion of California could be wiped out for generations by one of state’s nuke plants — “You can have a release of radioactivity on a scale that no one can really imagine” (VIDEO)   August 5th, 2012   By    Daniel Hirsch Speaking at Rally

Daniel Hirsch of CommitteeToBridgeTheGap.org, UCLA professor: If that radioactivity were released you could wipe out a substantial portion of California for generations.

And the only thing that prevents that radioactive material from getting out is if the coolant keeps operating…

You can have a release of radioactivity on a scale that no one can really imagine…

http://enenews.com/nuclear-expert-substantial-portion-california-could-be-wiped-generations-either-one-states-reactors-release-radioactivity-scale-one-really-imagine-video

August 8, 2012 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

« Canadian Nuclear Expert: Reactor is releasing 200 trillion becquerels of tritium every year — Becomes a part of your body and all living things — Gives off beta particles which produce damage that can result in cancer (AUDIO)
http://enenews.com/govt-releases-last-years-tests-contamination-detected-sea-japan-airborne-material-blamed-includes-niigata-shizuoka-iwate
  July 2012: Fukushima Man has 20,000 becquerels of cesium in body —
Wife has 10,000 Bq »
Gov’t Releases Last Year’s Tests: “Contamination detected even in the
Sea of Japan” — “Airborne material” blamed — Includes Niigata,
Shizuoka, and Iwate

August 5th, 2012
By ENENews
Title: Radioactive cesium found off of Niigata, Shizuoka, Iwate
coasts: gov’t study
Source: Mainichi
Date: August 4, 2012
Radioactive cesium likely from the Fukushima nuclear disaster was
detected last year in a survey of ocean waters and fish off Niigata,
Shizuoka, and Iwate prefectures, the government announced on Aug. 3.
“Even if taken internally, the radiation levels detected are not a
risk to human health,” the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology stated. The ministry added it believes the
small amount of contamination detected even in the Sea of Japan off
Niigata was probably originally airborne material that made it to
coastal waters through rain and river courses.

[…] […]

Test results:
In May last year that there were 9.1 millibecquerels of radioactive
cesium per liter of seawater off Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture
In December, the survey found two becquerels per kilogram in a type of
flounder in [Shizuoka]
In May last year, the survey found dried sea floor dirt from the
southeast of Sado Island […] was contaminated with 31 becquerels of
cesium per kilogram
In the ocean off Yamada, Iwate Prefecture […] 0.7 becquerels per
liter of seawater were detected in May 2011

August 8, 2012 Posted by | Canada, health | Leave a comment

When radioactive cesium enters body, 75% lodges in muscle tissue
including heart http://enenews.com/when-radioactive-cesium-enters-body-75-lodges-in-muscle-tissue-including-heart May 6th, 2012   By ENENews

The Worst Yet to Come? Why Nuclear Experts Are Calling Fukushima a
Ticking Time-Bomb
Alternet
Brad Jacobson
May 4, 2012

[…] Nuclear experts noted that other lethal radioactive isotopes
would also be released in such a fire, but that the focus is on
cesium-137 because it easily volatilizes and spreads pervasively, as
it did during the Chernobyl accident and again after the disaster at
Fukushima Daiichi last year.

With a half-life of 30 years, it gives off penetrating radiation as it
decays and can remain dangerous for hundreds of years. Once in the
environment, it mimics potassium as it accumulates in the food chain;
when it enters the human body, about 75 percent lodges in muscle
tissue, including the heart. […]

August 8, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, health | Leave a comment

July 2012: Fukushima Man has 20,000 becquerels of cesium in body — Wife has 10,000 Bq  http://enenews.com/july-2012-fukushima-man-20000-becquerels-cesium-body-wife-10000-bq   August 5th, 2012 
By ENENews August 4, 2012 report in the Asahi Shinbun with summary translation by Fukushima Diary:

A hematological physician in Minamisoma general hospital (23km from Fukushima plant) wrote on his blog that he measured 20,000 Bq/body from a man in 70s living in Fukushima by WBC (Whole body counter) though it was already July 2012. This is the total of Cs-134 and Cs-137.

He measured 10,000 Bq/body from the wife as well. It’s about 300 Bq/Kg.

See also: Top Radiation Expert: 50 Bq/kg in humans leads to irreversible lesions in vital organs — Then top UN official refutes effects of internal radiation (VIDEO)

August 8, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, health, Japan | Leave a comment

Gov’t Releases Last Year’s Tests: “Contamination detected even in the Sea of Japan” — “Airborne material” blamed — Includes Niigata, Shizuoka, and Iwate  http://enenews.com/govt-releases-last-years-tests-contamination-detected-sea-japan-airborne-material-blamed-includes-niigata-shizuoka-iwate 
   August 5th, 2012  
By ENENews Title: Radioactive cesium found off of Niigata, Shizuoka, Iwate coasts: gov’t study

Source: Mainichi
Date: August 4, 2012

Radioactive cesium likely from the Fukushima nuclear disaster was detected last year in a survey of ocean waters and fish off Niigata, Shizuoka, and Iwate prefectures, the government announced on Aug. 3. “Even if taken internally, the radiation levels detected are not a risk to human health,” the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology stated. The ministry added it believes the small amount of contamination detected even in the Sea of Japan off Niigata was probably originally airborne material that made it to coastal waters through rain and river courses.

[…]

Test results:

  • In May last year that there were 9.1 millibecquerels of radioactive cesium per liter of seawater off Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture
  • In December, the survey found two becquerels per kilogram in a type of flounder in [Shizuoka]
  • In May last year, the survey found dried sea floor dirt from the southeast of Sado Island […] was contaminated with 31 becquerels of cesium per kilogram
  • In the ocean off Yamada, Iwate Prefecture […] 0.7 becquerels per liter of seawater were detected in May 2011

August 8, 2012 Posted by | Japan, oceans | Leave a comment

Radio and Television Address to the American People on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty   John Kennedy, Washington, D.C., July 26, 1963  “…….This treaty can be a step towards freeing the world from the fears and dangers of radioactive fallout. Our own atmospheric tests last year were conducted under conditions which restricted such fallout to an absolute minimum. But over the years the number and the yield of weapons tested have rapidly increased and so have the radioactive hazards from such testing. Continued unrestricted testing by the nuclear powers, joined in time by other nations which may be less adept in limiting pollution, will increasingly contaminate the air that all of us must breathe Even then, the number of children and grandchildren with cancer in their bones, with leukemia in their blood, or with poison in their lungs might seem statistically small to some, in comparison with natural health hazards. But this is not a natural health hazard-and it is not a statistical issue. The loss of even one human life, or the malformation of even one baby-who may be born long after all of us have gone-should be of concern to us all. Our children and grandchildren are not merely statistics towards which we can be indifferent.

Nor does this affect the nuclear powers alone. These tests befoul the air of all men and all nations, Continue reading →

August 8, 2012 Posted by | history | Leave a comment

50,000 at Hiroshima remembrance rally, opposing nuclear weapons and nuclear power

Nuclear fears focus attention on Hiroshima anniversary, THE HINDU, 6 Aug 12,   Interest in the anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the western Japanese city of Hiroshima was heightened on Monday amid growing public frustration with the country’s decision to restart atomic reactors after last year’s nuclear accident.

Most participants at the 67th anniversary commemorations expressed their opposition to nuclear power generation. Those attending also included people who once lived near a nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture in north-eastern Japan that was the site of the 2011
meltdowns of three reactors.

Such attendees included Tamotsu Baba, the mayor of Namie town, all of whose residents were forced to leave after the accident.
Students lie down symbolising deaths from nuclear wars and accidents

About 50,000 people attended the observance in Peace Memorial Park near ground zero, Hiroshima’s city government said. Mayor Kazumi Matsui called for the elimination of nuclear weapons at the ceremony…. http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3733249.ece

Remembrance of Nuclear Energy Disaster Victims
heres a video with Paul Gunter from Beyond Nuclear and others making statements and prayers at the New York memorial.. the introduction is very interesting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKiUteVBrR8

 

August 6, 2012 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Discrimination, mental health issues, among Fukushima’s brave clean-up workers

Doctors: Japan Nuclear Plant Workers Face Stigma By MALCOLM FOSTER Associated Press abc News, TOKYO August 5, 2012 (AP) A growing number of Japanese workers who are risking their health to shut down the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant are suffering from depression, anxiety about the future and a loss of motivation, say two doctors who visit them regularly.

But their psychological problems are driven less by fears about developing cancer from radiation exposure and more by something immediate and personal: Discrimination from the very community they tried to protect, says Jun Shigemura, who heads a volunteer team of about ten psychiatrists and psychologists from the National Defense Medical College who meet with Tokyo Electric Power Co. nuclear plant employees. Continue reading →

August 6, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, psychology - mental health, Reference, social effects | Leave a comment

Obama would spend up big on weapons, and Romney, even bigger

 a Romney administration would fork out roughly $800 billion toward national defense in 2016 — a notably higher amount than the trimmed-down $578 billion proposed by the Obama administration.

Is Pentagon spending good for the economy? By Guy Taylor-The Washington Times , August 5, 2012 In a time of deep deficits and tight budgets, President Obama says theDefense Department cannot be entirely spared the scalpel. But Mitt Romney, his likely opponent in November’s election, says the U.S. must spend more on the Pentagon now because it will pay off with a stronger economy in the long run.

Analysts said the differences stem from a deep philosophical divide. Continue reading →

August 6, 2012 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear power plants can’t cope with increasingly hot summers

simply getting permission to suck in hotter water does not make the problem go away..

despite a myriad of potential problems and two decades of climate warnings, it is sobering to note that none of the US reactors were built to account for any of this

[The new reactors] they are still PWRs and they still require a large reserve of cool, circulating water to keep them operating and nominally safe. 

For Nuclear Power This Summer, It’s Too Darn Hot, Truth Out, 05 August 2012   By Gregg Levine,   You know that expression, “Hotter than July?” Well, this July, July was hotter than July. Depending on what part of the country you live in, it was upwards of three degrees hotter this July than the 20th Century average. Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis and St. Louis are each “on a pace to shatter their all-time monthly heat records.” And “when the thermometer goes way up and the weather is sizzling hot,” as the Cole Porter song goes, demand for electricity goes way up, too….. Take, for example, Braidwood, the nuclear facility that supplies much of Chicago with electricity: Continue reading →

August 6, 2012 Posted by | climate change, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

A “regional” nuclear war would have global unmanageable effects

The Red Cross has determined that if nuclear weapons were used today, any attempts at responding or coping with the humanitarian needs of survivors would be utterly overwhelmed.  These new climate and health studies demonstrate that a limited, regional nuclear war would have global health and humanitarian consequences on a scale never seen before

A treaty banning nuclear weapons is urgent, necessary and achievable, and negotiations on such a treaty should begin. Now.

Preventing another Hiroshima, By Rebecca Johnson, ICAN 6 August 2012 “…….recent studies demonstrate that a regional nuclear war would cause global famine, jeopardising over a billion people.
The new “nuclear winter” studies update the 1980s research , examining the use of 100 Hiroshima-sized nuclear weapons on urban centres in India and Pakistan. This limited regional scenario (0.04 percent of the explosive power in today’s arsenals) recognises the fallibility of deterrence and that suspicious neighbours could reproduce the risk factors that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, including miscalculation, miscommunication, military escalation and, potentially, rogue commanders.  Growing cyberwarfare capacities in
many countries add an extra dimension of volatile danger to an explosive mix. Continue reading →

August 6, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

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