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Five thousand villagers defy police in march and rally against Jaitapur nuclear power plant

india-antinukeVillagers from Madhban-Mithgavane, Sakhrinate, Adiware, Dhaulwali,
Dhartale and other hamlets were taking part in the march Wednesday
despite prohibitory orders clamped by the local police to deter them.

Anti-nuclear plant protestors launch ‘jail-bharo’ in Maharashtra
http://india.nydailynews.com/business/2c7c1676293d2f93702509aa46ba49fd/anti-nuclear-plant-protestors-launch-jail-bharo-in-maharashtra
Jan 02, 2013 Ratnagiri  — Thousands of villagers Wednesday launched a
‘jail bharo’ agitation demanding scrapping of the proposed 9,900-MW
Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) coming up here, an activist
said.
Nearly 5,000 residents from neighbouring villages and fishing hamlets
started a peaceful march to the JNPP site, some 400 km from Mumbai,
where they proposed to court arrest. Continue reading →

January 4, 2013 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | 1 Comment

New York and Vermont regulators demand review of nuclear waste spent fuel pools

nuclear-cooling-pondVermont, New York regulators urge review of storage of spent nuclear fuel, VT Digger, by Andrew Stein | January 3, 2013 Leading Vermont and New York regulators on Tuesday called on the Nuclear Regulator Commission to conduct a comprehensive environmental review of spent nuclear fuel storage.
Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell, the Vermont Department of Public Service and the New York Attorney General’s office issued a formal letter to the federal commission on Tuesday regarding the “scope of consideration of environmental impacts of temporary spent fuel after cessation of reactor operation.” The states’ plea comes roughly eight months after the U.S. Appellate Court struck down the commission’s so-called “waste confidence rule,” which authorized the storage of spent fuel at a reactor. The court called for more extensive environmental assessments of this practice, and in August 2012, the NRC suspended all licensing decisions for nuclear power plants until it can address concerns regarding long-term storage of nuclear waste.

“The NRC owes a legal obligation to the public to engage in a full and thorough review of the environmental impacts of storing spent nuclear fuel at reactors that were never designed to be long-term storage facilities,” Sorrell said in a public statement.

The letter from Vermont and New York politicians says it is time to begin exploring new ways to store high-level nuclear waste other than spent fuel pools at reactor sites across the country.

“After more than three decades of failing to address the very real and widespread concern with the continued production of nuclear wastes without a permanent, safe, and secure nuclear waste repository NRC now has the opportunity, albeit mandated by a Federal Court, to apply its considerable expertise to address these concerns,” the letter says…… http://vtdigger.org/2013/01/03/vermont-new-york-regulators-urge-review-of-spent-nuclear-fuel-storage/

January 4, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, wastes | Leave a comment

Public ignorance about the radiation dangers of CT scans

CT-scanMany people unaware of radiation risk from CT scans By Genevra Pittman | Reuters, 4 Jan 13,   NEW YORK–One-third of people getting a CT scan didn’t know the test exposed their body to radiation, in a new study from a single U.S. medical center.
Researchers found the majority of patients also underestimated the amount of radiation delivered by a CT scan, and just one in 20 believed the scan would increase their chance of ever getting cancer.
The study’s lead researcher, , Janet Busey, , said doctors need to do a better job of talking to patients about the risks and benefits of the tests, including about radiation exposure.
One challenge is that there is still debate within the medical community about just how much long term cancer risk the scans carry, she said. That risk also depends on how many scans a patient gets and which organs are exposed to radiation.
“There’s no doubt, CT saves lives,” Busey, from the University of Washington in Seattle, told Reuters Health. And their benefits usually outweigh their risks, she added.
Still, even if the radiation risk is small, patients “definitely should be aware of it.”
CT scans are high-powered X-rays that provide clearer images but expose patients to between ten and 100 times more radiation than a normal head or chest X-ray, for example…. http://news.yahoo.com/many-people-unaware-radiation-risk-ct-scans-213236978.html

January 4, 2013 Posted by | health, USA | 1 Comment

The world will pay dearly for delaying action on climate change

Delay climate action – and pay: report, SMH, January 3, 2013 An
agreement by almost 200 nations to curb rising greenhouse gas
emissions from 2020 will be far more costly than taking action now to
tackle climate change, according to research published on Wednesday.

Quick measures to cut emissions would give a far better chance of
keeping global warming within an agreed U.N. limit of 2 degrees
Celsius (3.6F) above pre-industrial times to avert more floods,
heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels.
graph-Climate-Action_vs_Ina
“If you delay action by 10, 20 years you significantly reduce the
chances of meeting the 2 degree target,” said Keywan Riahi, one of the
authors of the report at the International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis in Austria. Continue reading →

January 4, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

Company terminates USA spent nuclear fuel license due to costs

Costs drove PFS move to terminate US spent fuel storage license: exec Washington (Platts)–2 Jan2013 

Private Fuel Storage’s December request that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission terminate its license for an away-from-reactor spent fuel storage facility in Utah that might never be built centered on economics, according to Robert Palmberg, chairman of the PFS board.

It was costing the utility consortium hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to maintain a license for a project that has remained dormant since NRC licensed the facility in 2006, he said in an interview Wednesday. …. http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/ElectricPower/6977321

January 4, 2013 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Turkey now testing all food from Japan for radiation

Report: Turkey begins testing all food from Japan for radiation — Imports suspected to be contaminated http://enenews.com/report-turkey-begins-testing-all-food-japan-radiation-imports-suspected-be-contaminated
January 2nd, 2013 
 Excerpt From: Turkey to test Japanese products for radiation
Source: World Bulletin
Date: December 30 2012
h/t Anonymous tip

Turkey to test Japanese products for radiation

The arrangement will go into effect on January 1, 2013 and will cover all Japanese products sent to Turkey after March 11, 2011. […]

Fukushima Diary summarizes a Japanese-language report on Turkey’s move:

[…] They state imports from Japan are suspected to be radioactively contaminated.

January 4, 2013 Posted by | environment, Japan, Turkey | Leave a comment

Fukushima government’s efforts to stop study of baby teeth for radiation checks.

exclamation-Fukushima gov’t tried to kill proposal to store baby teeth for future
radiation checks
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20121219p2a00m0na016000c.html
FUKUSHIMA — The Fukushima Prefectural Government has tried to kill a
proposal by a local assemblyperson to store local children’s milk
teeth to examine their internal radiation exposure stemming from the
Fukushima nuclear disaster, it has been learned. Continue reading →

January 4, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Youtube: The aftermath for Fukushima cleanup workers, and nearby villagers

YouTubeWhat happened to the Fukushima 50 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sshECHcEerI&feature=player_detailpage#t=107s  2 Jan 2013 The workers who stayed behind in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 were told by many at the time that they were going to die for their pains.

There were actually 300 of them but they worked in shifts of 50.
Tokyo correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports on what has happened to them – and the villages around the stricken reactor – since the disaster.

January 4, 2013 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Lucrative jobs for former nuclear officials, and “benefit” money keeps Japan’s “nuclear village” operating

Foundation filled with ‘nuclear village’ officials monopolizes nuclear
benefit program
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201301030065
 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, 3 Jan 13 A foundation that provides high-paying
jobs for retired industry ministry officials has held a two-decade
monopoly on the program that pays benefits to residents living near
nuclear power plants, The Asahi Shimbun has found. Continue reading →

January 4, 2013 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Big solar projects acquired by Warren Buffett company

Buffett Company Acquires Major Solar Projects http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3536  4 Jan 13, 

MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings, has acquired SunPower’s 579-megawatt Antelope Valley Solar Projects.  The two projects are located in Kern and Los Angeles Counties in California and will provide clean electricity to Southern California Edison (SCE) under long-term power purchase contracts.

President of MidAmerican Renewables Bill Fehrman said the company now has a total portfolio of more than 1,830 megawatts of energy generation projects, including wind, geothermal, solar and hydro assets. Among the holdings are the 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm in San Luis Obispo County, California and a 49 percent stake in the 290-megawatt Agua Caliente solar project in Yuma County, Arizona. Continue reading →

January 4, 2013 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

UK’s Hinkley Point nuclear plans could be derailed by France’s probe into EDF

Reports: EDF inquiry could disrupt UK nuclear plans Financial Times suggests investigation could complicate strike price negotiations and unsettle investors
 BusinessGreen  03 Jan 2013   The UK’s ambitions for a new fleet of nuclear reactors could be disrupted by a French government probe into state-owned generator EDF, whose UK arm is currently in negotiations to build a £14bn nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
The formal inquiry established in the last days of 2012 is billed as an industry-wide investigation, but French media are reporting it is specifically focused on EDF and its relationships with China.
The Financial Times said yesterday that the inquiry casts doubt over the future of EDF chief executive Henri Proglio, who has been unable to replicate the close relationship he enjoyed with former President Nicolas Sarkozy with his successor, François Hollande. , observers are concerned the probe could have a knock-on effect on EDF’s stance towards building a new reactor at Hinkley Point, especially if the French government decides it should not take the risk of subsidising UK energy consumers. Any shift in EDF’s position would further complicate ongoing negotiations with the UK government over the level of subsidy, or strike price, that will be provided to support the Hinkley Point plant.

Last year, it was reported EDF Energy was looking for a payment of between £100 per megawatt hour (MWh) and £140/MWh to go ahead with the plant and that a final investment decision had been delayed from the end of 2012 to April 2013….. http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2233578/reports-edf-inquiry-could-disrupt-uk-nuclear-plans

January 4, 2013 Posted by | France, politics international, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear leak scare in Iran

Iran to Citizens: Flee Isfahan, Washington Free Beacon,  Iranian
officials tell citizens to vacate city located near nuke site BY: Adam
KredoJ anuary 2, 2013
Iranian officials have instructed residents of Isfahan to leave the
city, renewing concerns that a nearby nuclear site could be leaking
radioactive material. Continue reading →

January 4, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Despite police repression, protestors gather against Jaitapur nuclear plant

 “The government
instead of unleashing the police on the villagers, should respect the
people’s sentiments,”

Villagers court arrest against Jaitapur nuclear plant
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/villagers-court-arrest-against-jaitapur-nuclear-plant/article4266213.ece
, 3 Jan 13,  ALOK DESHPANDE Thousands of villagers from around the
proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP) site in Maharashtra’s
Ratnagiri district on Wednesday launched a ‘jail bharo’ agitation
demanding scrapping of the 9,900 MW plant.

The agitators attempted to take out a peaceful protest march to the
project site. But they were stopped three kilometres away, arrested
and later released. The protesters had planned to surround the site to
convey the symbolic ‘stop-the-work’ notice to the administration. Continue reading →

January 4, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Time for genuine negotiations with Iran to settle nuclear dispute

Nuclear Talks With Iran: Time to Make an Offer
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/opinion/nuclear-talks-with-iran-time-to-make-an-offer.html?_r=0
DAVID KEPPEL
January 1, 2013 Re “Another Try at Nuclear Negotiations” (editorial,
Dec. 24): With President Obama’s re-election, it is time to drop the
pose of toughness and make a realistic nuclear offer to Iran. Only a
negotiated settlement can both deter an Iranian nuclear weapons
program and avoid another war that the United States cannot afford, a
war that would plunge the region into further chaos and only stiffen
Tehran’s resolve to build a bomb.

We must acknowledge Iran’s right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty to enrich uranium for nuclear power, a point of Iranian
national pride shared by much of the Iranian opposition. And in return
for verifiable curbs on weaponization, Washington should offer to lift
broad sanctions that hurt the Iranian people far more than the regime.

We should work toward a Middle East free of nuclear weapons —
including Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal.

January 4, 2013 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Financial advice to Entergy – sell Vermont Yankee nuclear plant

Vermont, New York regulators urge review of storage of spent nuclear fuel, VT Digger, by Andrew Stein | January 3, 2013 “……..The Swiss financial services company UBS issued a report this week that forecasts a grim cash flow outlook for Entergy Corporation’s nuclear power plants, and recommended that Entergy sell Vermont Yankee to shore up its finances.

The U.S. Appellate Court ruling put a halt to license renewal applications for nine plants, including Indian Point in New York and Seabrook in New Hampshire.

Under the order, the commission, for the first time, will require environmental assessments of nuclear waste now held at the nation’s 104 reactor sites amid growing public pressure to evaluate the potential hazards of spent fuel pools and dry cask storage at nuclear reactor sites in the United States after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. There are 104 nuclear reactors at 64 operating plants in the United States, according to a report from CNN. Half are more than 30 years old.

The Commission gave Vermont Yankee, which was built in 1972, a 20-year license extension in 2011.

WASTE STORAGE DOCUMENTS: ….. http://vtdigger.org/2013/01/03/vermont-new-york-regulators-urge-review-of-spent-nuclear-fuel-storage/

January 4, 2013 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

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