2012 November 20 « nuclear-news

OUT OF THEIR FRACKING MINDS! -UK Schnews -“The Big Revolt” on 1st December 2012

“The Big Rig Revolt is a chance for communities, groups and individuals across the country to make their voices heard in opposition to this threat. Actions are already planned in Lancashire, Swansea, Somerset, Brighton and London.”

Published on 17th November 2012 | Part of Issue 831

Schnews

get ready for the 1st of December’s Big Rig Revolt

British resistance to fracking is cranking it up a gear. Community groups across the country are organising for a day of action on Saturday 1st December, to make it clear that they do not want to be fracked. Rumours are afoot of actions spanning from fire-eaters to naked flash mobs.

Alternatively, there’s always the yearly climate march in London on the same day, which will have a fracking theme. The day has been titled “The Big Rig Revolt” and at present the default option for those wanting to fit in with the crowd seems to be to build a mock drilling rig and place it somewhere thoughtful, controversial or confrontational, depending on your preference. More inventive ideas will doubtless emerge nearer the time.

And it’s not all about doing it just for the frack of it – this upsurge in resistance is not focused on only one particular technology, as indeed the industry isn’t: the crackpot energy schemes come in many flavours. As easy-to-extract fossil fuels are depleted, prices are rising and the system is desperately scrabbling around to find alternatives, which are necessarily more extreme, dangerous and destructive. Up until now this has mainly been energy sources like tar sands and deep water drilling which are remote to most people. Now, however, with the screws really tightening and the global economy tottering, these sort of extreme energy methods are coming to a field near you. At the same time it is becoming increasingly clear that effects of burning fossil fuels on the climate are not limited to some far future but are already effecting many people. The rash of extreme weather events in the past year have devastated lives and are pushing up food prices threatening to starve many in the third world. Any widespread exploitation of unconventional fossil fuels could be completely catastrophic.

In Scotland, an Australian company called Dark Energy (er, sorry no, Dart Energy) has applied to build Britain’s first unconventional gas development, with 14 sites, 22 wells, over 20 km of pipelines, a processing plant and a waste outfall into the Firth of Fourth. Another 600 Coal Bed Methane (CBM) wells could follow, in this one small area between Falkirk and Stirling.

In Lancashire, Cuadrilla Resources are in the process of drilling their fourth shale gas test well and are preparing to frack the well they drilled last year. The amounts of gas Cuadrilla are bragging they can extract from Lancashire would require them to drill over 6000 wells in the area. In Somerset, UK Methane have applied for the for permission for the first CBM test well in Keynsham near Bristol. Again this is but the tip of a much larger iceberg with in excess of 2000 wells needed to extract the gas that UK Methane hope is there. And in Cheshire, IGas have also been have been drilling for CBM around Warrington and Ellesmere Port and would need around 2000 wells to extract the gas they claim is there.

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November 20, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Egypt -In Dabaa, the fight to halt nuclear power continues

“This is a technology that will make us even more dependent on private companies, said Greenpeace’s Egypt coordinator Ahmed el Droubi, adding that the need for foreign brainpower and materials is a threat to the country’s long-term “national security.”

“We’ll be importing a minimum of 80 percent of materials and knowledge, and relying on the countries we import from to deal with the uranium after,”

“Egypt has reached a preliminary agreement with a team from the International Monetary Fund for a $4.8 billion loan, a minister said on Tuesday.

“We have a preliminary agreement with the technical team of the IMF,” Planning and International Cooperation Ashraf al-Araby told a news conference with the head of the IMF delegation.”

Megan Detrie

Tue, 20/11/2012 – 12:16

Egypt Independant Press

Residents in Dabaa, the site of a proposed nuclear power plant, have said the government must reassess the feasibility of the project, during a conference with concerned activists last week.

“The conference was a chance for the residents to voice their concerns,” said Baher Shawky of the Habitat International Coalition, who attended the conference.

“The people of Dabaa have been living on this land for four centuries, their livelihood is dependent on it and they possess a unique relationship with it. No one has been told why this land would be ideal for a nuclear power plant.”

The small town on the country’s North Coast, just miles from Marsa Matrouh, is the location of a proposed nuclear plant. The planned site is likely to extend 55 square kilometers. Protesters have been demanding the plant be relocated because they have lost land to the project.

The Ministry of Electricity has yet to accede to residents’ demands. Nuclear energy has long been in the works for Egypt, and the government has pushed to develop it as a source of electricity since 1981. But it wasn’t until the International Atomic Energy Agency signed off on the project site in 2010 that the dream of nuclear power gained traction.

The government has said it plans to construct four nuclear power reactors by 2025, with the first of them to be put into operation in 2019.

But activists have voiced concerns over the impact nuclear power will have on the country’s energy sovereignty. Egypt will have to import the uranium needed to make the reactor work, as well as rely on foreign companies for the construction of the plant.

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November 20, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Brazil on cusp of US$6.5bn nuclear expansion

“But the accident and the response to it have had still greater impact among the 100,000 inhabitants of Angra dos Reis, a town near Brazil’s only functioning nuclear power station. Since its inauguration in 1985, the plant known as Angra I has suffered constant problems and has been forced to suspend operations so often that it is nicknamed the firefly.

More disturbing though, it was discovered two years ago that there was no adequate evacuation plan for the area, nor were there roads and vehicles enough to transport a large population in case of an emergency.”

“The nuclear submarine project is in full swing, with the construction of the test facility reactor that will be used in the submarine.“

“If not for the global economic crisis, growth in the industry would be even more pronounced now than before the accident.”

“The accident did have an impact, but it was much smaller than what analysts had predicted,”

11/19/2012

Power engineering

Investments in Brazilian nuclear energy projects will exceed US$6.5bn by the end of the decade, the sector’s national association Aben has told BNamericas.

Aben president Edson Kuramoto says the industry has made a full recovery after the negative publicity surrounding Japan’s Fukushima disaster last year.

Brazil will boast at least four new nuclear generation facilities before 2030. Projects underway include the Angra 3 power plant in Rio de Janeiro state that will increase the country’s installed nuclear capacity from 1.99GW to 3.40GW by 2016.

“The nuclear area in Brazil is extensive, covering electric power generation, the production of radiopharmaceuticals and radioisotopes as well as the whole fuel cycle,” Kuramoto said.

“There are also investments in uranium enrichment facilities, gasification and production of uranium minerals.

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November 20, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Oysters harvested in Miyagi after two years -Strontium levels?

NATIONAL

NOV. 20, 2012 – 06:20AM

MIYAGI —

The Karakuwa peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture, which was devastated by the tsunami on March 11, 2011, held an oyster-tasting event to celebrate the first oyster harvest in two years.

Many visitors, including those from Sendai and outside the prefecture, enjoyed the taste of fresh oysters at Sunday’s event, Sankei Shimbun reported. A local tourism association spokesman said the visitors’ support gave them hope that the industry could make a full recovery.

Japan Today

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/oysters-harvested-in-miyagi-after-two-years?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2012-11-20_AM