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Former Prime Minister Kan’s campaign to rid the world of nuclear power

he [Kan] noted that already a new energy prospect is visible off the Fukushima coast, where a floating wind turbine is being tested. It has been dubbed “Fukushima mirai,” which means “Fukushima future” in Japanese. “In Japan,” Kan said, “we see that even without nuclear power plants we can actually supply energy to meet our demands.”

The Nuclear Odyssey of Naoto Kan, Japan’s Prime Minister during Fukushima Having led Japan through the 2011 nuclear crisis, the elder statesman is now campaigning for a world without nuclear power, Scientific American, By David Biello, 17 Oct 13, (“……………Kan could not help but wondering how much worse the Fukushima meltdowns might get on the dark nights spent in his office after March 11, 2011. “What was going through my mind at the time?” Kan said through a translator during a public event at the 92nd Street YMCA in New York City on October 8. “How much worse is this going to get, and how can we stop this from getting even worse?”

Kan commissioned a report for the worst-case scenario from the Japan Atomic Energy Commission, which confirmed his worst fears: a potential evacuation area reaching as far as 250 kilometers from the stricken power plant—a zone of exclusion that would have reached all the way to Tokyo and affected roughly 50 million people. The potential for disaster was so great because the Fukushima area houses a total of 10 reactors and 11 pools that store used nuclear fuel. By March 15, three of those reactors were experiencing at least partial meltdowns, and four, thanks to a spent-fuel pool that also lost water cooling of the still-hot rods, had suffered hydrogen explosions…….
 Now the one-time nuclear supporter is campaigning for an end to power from fission. “There is no other disaster that would affect 50 million people—maybe a war,” Kan observed. “There is only one way to eliminate such accidents, which is to get rid of all nuclear power plants.”…. Continue reading →

October 18, 2013 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Refuting the lies of anti renewable energy propaganda

highly-recommendedMyth-busting Germany’s energy transition Smart Planet By  | October 12, 2013 Major English-language media have been propagating a false narrative about the stunning success of Germany’s transition to renewable energy: theEnergiewende. To hear them tell it, the transition has been a massive failure, driving up power prices, putting Germany’s grid at risk of blackouts, and inspiring a mass revolt against renewables.

Nothing could be further from the truth……..

I debunked a few of the hoary tropes about the Energiewende one year ago, such as the notion that the grid can’t handle a large share of variable renewable power. But apparently many in the major Western media still haven’t gotten the memo.

So let’s clear out the fog and debunk a few of the favorite myths about theEnergiewende.

Myth: “After the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan two-and-a-half years ago, Merkel quickly decided to begin phasing out nuclear power and lead the country into the age of wind and solar.” (This one is from the above-mentioned Der Spiegel article.)

Fact: Germany’s switch to renewables started in 1991, and the nuclear phaseout started in 2002. Continue reading →

October 18, 2013 Posted by | Germany, Reference, renewable, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Renewables leading in global energy investment

piggy-ban-renewablesCitibank: Renewables will get bulk of world’s new power investment http://fuelfix.com/midland/2013/10/10/citibank-renewables-will-get-bulk-of-worlds-new-power-investment/  October 10, 2013 The world is going clean: Renewable energy will make up more than 70 percent of investment in new power generation by 2025, a Citibank report said Thursday.

Demand for power is growing around the globe and most of it will be renewable. Of the nearly $10 trillion dollars that will be poured into the power sector in the next decade, more than $2 trillion will be invested in wind, followed by $1.5 trillion in hydropower and $1.3 trillion in solar power, as nations around the world begin to make the shift away from fossil fuel generation.

While natural gas has cut into coal’s dominance for power generation in the United States, the report notes that in the longer run, the lower price of solar energy will make it increasingly attractive, especially during peak demand periods, when wholesale power in Texas can cost as much as $4,500 per megawatt-hour.

“Solar steals the most valuable part of electricity generation at the peak of the day when prices are highest,” the report said. German natural gas power plants have already said they are reluctant to build new generation because of the impact of solar power on their profits, according to the report.

More than $37 trillion will be invested in the global energy infrastructure in the next two decades, with nearly 50 percent of it devoted to electricity generation, Citibank estimated in the report. Oil production will account for about 37 percent of total investment, followed by natural gas, coal and biofuels, at 23 percent, 3 percent and one percent, respectively.

October 18, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, renewable | Leave a comment

Typhoon results in more radiation leaks at Fukushima nuclear plant

Japan: Typhoon Wipha causes more nuclear contamination at Fukushima Euro News 17 Oct 13, A typhoon that swept through Japan has caused more radioactive leaks at the troubledFukushima plant.

Workers there say they have detected high levels of radiation in a ditch leading to the Pacific Ocean and suspect heavy rains lifted contaminated soil…….http://www.euronews.com/2013/10/17/japan-typhoon-wipha-causes-more-nuclear-contamination-at-fukishima/

October 18, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment

Over $60 billion for USA’s new nuclear weapons spending

missile-moneyU.S. nuclear arms modernization plan misguided: scientists’ group By David Alexander WASHINGTON | Thu Oct 17, 2013 (Reuters) – An Obama administration plan to spend $60 billion over the next 25 years to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal is misguided and violates the spirit of its pledge not to develop new nuclear arms, a Union of Concerned Scientists report said on Thursday.

The 81-page report by the independent nonprofit said the $60 billion for upgrading warheads is a fraction of what Washington plans to spend on its nuclear deterrent in the coming decades, on top of billions for new manufacturing facilities and billions more for delivery systems like submarines.

The spending comes despite President Barack Obama’sendorsement of the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and his negotiation of the “New START” treaty with Russia, which committed the former Cold War rivals to reducing deployed strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550 each by 2018…….

The 81-page report by the independent nonprofit said the $60

October 18, 2013 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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