China to invest in Romanian nuclear power
CHINA’S prime minister says his country will invest in Romanian nuclear and wind energy production as well as a high-speed railway.
November 26, 2013
Li Keqiang arrived in Romania on Monday a day ahead of a summit with leaders from Central and East European countries.
Romanian and Chinese officials signed various deals to co-operate in nuclear and thermoelectric energy projects and to resume beef and pork exports.
No values for the deals were disclosed.
Romanian exports to China have tripled since 2008 and bilateral commerce this year amounted to $US3.27 billion ($A3.5 billion), according to Chinese authorities.
It was the first visit by a Chinese prime minister to Romania in 19 years.
Li said the visit “consolidates reciprocal political trust”.
State Secrets Protection Bill Public Hearing Takes Place in Fukushima
25 Nov 2013
FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 25: (CHINA OUT, SOUTH KOREA OUT) Protesters demonstrate outside the public hearing on November 25, 2013 in Fukushima, Japan. A majority of Japanese view the bill that the Abe administration is trying to ram through the Lower House with distrust and anger. The bill, which will toughen penalties on public servants who leak ‘specified secrets’ that could jeopardize Japan’s national security, is now under discussion at the diet. Under the bill, public servants and other individuals can be imprisoned for up to 10 years if they disclose specified secrets. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)
The Case of Former TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu | Gets a new job with big oil (TEPCO affiliate)
Published on 25 Nov 2013
Masataka Shimizu never went away. He serves as an example of the bourgeois power in Japan.
References:
Tepco appointment stirs public anger in Japan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18…
Tepco ex-executives get golden parachute
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18…
Masataka Shimizu`s business profile
http://investing.businessweek.com/res…
Tepco stops media from releasing aerial photography of Fukushima operation
Tepco prohibited media from releasing aerial photo about fuel removal of reactor4 pool http://fukushima-diary.com/2013/11/tepco-prohibited-media-from-releasing-aerial-photo-about-fuel-removal-of-reactor4-pool/ by Mochizuki on November 24th, 2013 Tepco requested media not to release the aerial photography to disclose the route of the transportation and activities of security guards etc for fuel removal of reactor4 pool.
Tepco states it is for the Physical Protection of Specific Nuclear Fuel Material.
Their press release is below,,
“…Some of those videos contain information (such as the transportation schedule, a route of the transportation, and activities of security guards) the disclosure of which conflicts with “Measures To Be Taken for Physical Protection of Specific Nuclear Fuel Material” stipulated in the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law. The regulatory agency is also aware of this matter, and instructed us to request the media to act with attention to physical protection.
As we have already requested the media members on many occasions, in view of physical protection, please refrain from taking pictures and videos of the physical protection facilities such as the building entrances and exits, fences, sensors, and cameras as well as the cask transportation currently conducted.…”
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1232348_5130.html
http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2013/1232336_5117.html
I reject the international mass media to read this site without taking a contact with me.I know some of the mass media corporations read Fukushima Diary to understand the trend so they know when to report about Fukushima as if they were independently following it for a long time.
In short, they make you individual readers pay for this site while they pay nothing, and when they publish the “authorized news”, you pay for the “secondhand news”, which is nothing new for us.
This site is free for the individual readers, but not for corporations.In the world, this site is nearly the only source about Fukushima. I came here alone without any supporting organizations, background or anything. I’m not pleased to be exploited by the corporations that didn’t even properly report about Fukushima when 311 took place.
I demand them to take a contact with me BEFORE reading this site whatever the purpose is.
Fukushima fish – Radioactive Cesium 1,100 times higher than safety limit
110,000 Bq/Kg of Cs-134/137 from spotbelly rockfish of Fukushima plant port by Mochizuki on November 24th, 2013 ·
Cs-134 : 34,000 Bq/Kg
Cs-137 : 76,000 Bq/Kg
The sampling date was 10/10/2013.
101,000 Bq/kg of Cs-134/137 was also measured from marbled rockfish collected on 10/29/2013. This sample was from the port too.
Radiation level of marine products is still significantly high.http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2013/images/fish01_131120-j.pdf
At last – some sort of nuclear agreement between Iran and the West
Iran nuclear program deal reached with world powers during diplomatic talks in Geneva ABC News 25 Nov 13Iran has reached a deal with six world powers to curb its nuclear activities in return for the easing of sanctions imposed by Western countries.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who coordinated the talks in Geneva, said they had agreed a “first step” towards a comprehensive solution. United States president Barack Obama hailed the deal saying: “While today’s announcement is just a first step, it achieves a great deal.
“For the first time in nearly a decade, we have halted the progress of the Iranian nuclear program, and key parts of the program will be rolled back…….
Under the agreement Iran has promised not to enrich more uranium above a level of five per cent for six months. It has also agreed to halt construction of the Arak research reactor, which is feared capable of yielding potential bomb material. In return the six powers will remove the embargo on trade with Iran in precious metals while refraining from imposing new sanctions for six months.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi says the deal will help normalise relations with Iran, and “will help provide a better life for the Iranian people.”…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-24/iran-reaches-deal-with-world-powers-on-nuclear-program/5113460
Uranium enrichment is the issue with Iran’s nuclear programme
Uranium enrichment at heart of Iran nuclear deal WP 24 Nov 13, Iran’s ability to enrich uranium — at what levels and what speed — is a cornerstone of the deal reached Sunday between Tehran and world powers. Here are answers to some important questions about uranium enrichment, the central process in turning concentrated uranium into nuclear fuel.
Q: WHAT IS URANIUM ENRICHMENT?…….
Q: SO WHY THE WORRY ABOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS?…….
Q: WHY WON’T IRAN GIVE UP ENRICHMENT?
A: This is what Iran has frequently called its “red line.” Iran’s leaders say they will never relinquish control over the entire nuclear cycle as a matter of national pride. Iran portrays itself as an emerging technological giant of the Islamic world. The nuclear energy program is a pillar of Iran’s self-image as a center of scientific advances independent of the West. Iran has made some other important strides, including claims of sophisticated drone development, a homegrown auto industry and an aerospace program..
Q: WHERE ARE IRAN’S ENRICHMENT SITES?
A: Iran has two main uranium enrichment facilities. The oldest and largest — in Natanz, about 260 kilometers (160 miles) southeast of Tehran — is largely built underground and is surrounded by anti-aircraft batteries. Uranium enrichment began in 2006. Another site is known as Fordo, which is built into a mountainside south of Tehran. Its construction was kept secret by Iran until it was disclosed in September 2009 in a pre-emptive move before its existence was revealed by Western intelligence agencies. The area is heavily protected by the Revolutionary Guard. U.N. nuclear inspectors have visited both sites and have installed round-the-clock monitoring systems. The new accord allows for the possibility of daily U.N. inspection visits.
Q: HOW MANY OTHER COUNTRIES ENRICH URANIUM?
A: More than a dozen countries have enrichment programs, but several of those do not have nuclear weapons. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/uranium-enrichment-at-heart-of-iran-nuclear-deal/2013/11/24/fce9a86e-54cd-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html
Costs of renewables in fact lower, fossil fuel and nuclear costing more
one of the main barriers is that the fossil fuel industries is simply resisting change. The incumbent generators fight against energy efficiency and renewables, because of the damage it is doing to their traditional business models. Fossil fuel companies are still invested $675 billion a year in R&D on finding new fossil fuels.
“The perception is that renewables are expensive,” says Elisabeth Press, the executive secretary of IRENA. “The narrative around renewables has to change.”
Reality check on renewable energy could unblock climate talks REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 24 November 2013 The biggest frustrations of the UN sponsored climate change talks are the endless blockages that are seemingly caused because the potential solutions to rising greenhouse gases appear insurmountable: Yet the solutions are staring the negotiators in the face.
Energy efficiency could provide half the abatement required to meet the “emissions gap” between where the world is heading and what it needs to do to meet the global target to cap emissions at 450 parts per million, or a better than even chance at capping global warming at 2C. It can do this at little or no extra cost. And a new study to be released in the new year will say that renewable energy alone could provide the other half of the abatement needed from now to 2030, again for little or no extra cost.
The findings by the International Renewable Energy Agency – to be included in a document called ReMap 2030 and released in January – suggests that this can be done by doubling the penetration of renewables in the global electricity market to 36 per cent by 2030. Continue reading
Lynas rare earths processing plant has problems of safety, conflicts of interest
“Section 11 of the law allows the minister to direct regulators toward certain policies and so there’s massive conflict of interest,” said Dr Peter Karamoskos, an Australian nuclear radiologist.
Problems at Lynas factory can cause radioactive leaks, say experts The Malaysian Insider, 24 Nov 13, Prevailing problems in waste management, storage, disposal facility and waste cleaning at the Lynas factory can lead to radioactive leakages if the Australian firm fails to address the issues, said experts t at a seminar in Kuala Lumpur today.
The mining company’s refinery near Kuantan, Pahang, has several problems, which experts said in the event of an accident or carelessness, could harm to residents near the factory. Continue reading
Uranium Film Festival arrivng In USA
Uranium Film Festival to hit Duke City first “ABQ Journal, By Adrian Gomez / Asst. Arts Editor, Reel NM “…….The traveling festival will make its first stop in the United States in the Duke City on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and Thursday, Nov. 28. It will then move on to Santa Fe and Window Rock, Ariz., before heading to New York City and Washington, D.C., in February.
The festival highlights more than 40 films from 15 countries that explore not only the radioactive element called uranium, but nuclear practices as well.
Lopez, a coordinator for the festival, says the films are documentaries, experimental and animated films, new comedies, fiction and science-fiction films……..
The festival was founded by Norbert G. Suchanek of Germany, who now lives in Brazil. It is dedicated to showing films that highlight the entire Nuclear Fuel Chain – from uranium mining, nuclear power plants and uranium bullets to Hiroshima, Fukushima and Fallujah.
At the festival, Suchanek and Marcia Gomes de Oliveira, executive director, will present discussions along with producers and directors of the films.
One of the films to be showcased will be Santa Fe resident Adam Jonas Horowitz’s documentary “Nuclear Savage: The Islands of Secret Project 4.1.” The film will screen at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 27.
Also being shown is the film “Atomic Bomb Home” by Japanese filmmaker Katsumi Sakaguchi. It will screen at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 28.
The documentary observes people living in the Genbaku Home (Atomic Bomb Home), a nursing home in Nagasaki, Japan, for aged atomic bomb victims. They put on re-enactments of Aug. 9, 1945 in Nagasaki to hand on their memories and prayers to peace.
Lopez says it’s films like the ones being screened that will help open people’s eyes to this subject…….http://www.abqjournal.com/307924/news/uranium-film-festival-to-hit-duke-city-first.html
Incidents stretch isotope supply chain
New lead-212 facility
A new facility for the production and purification of lead-212 (Pb-212) has been inaugurated by Areva Med. The Maurice Tubiana Facility at Bessines-sur-Gartempe in Fance will provide sufficient amounts of the high-purity isotope for clinical development. Pb-212 is a promising agent for use in the field of Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) or alpha radioimmunotherapy, and is currently undergoing clinical trials at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the USA.
The Maurice Tubiana facility recovers the isotope from recycled uranium fuel and also from thorium from the Areva’s past industrial activities.
22 November 2013
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Incidents-stretch-isotope-supply-chain-2211137.html
Separate incidents at research reactors supplying molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) have once again illustrated the fragile nature of the medical isotope’s supply chain. Meanwhile a unique new facility has started production of lead-212.
Canada’s NRU (Image: AECL Chalk River Laboratories)
Production was suspended at South Africa’s Safari 1 after a release of iodine and noble gas during cleaning processes on 2 November. The release, caused in a “very rare combination of circumstances” by a chemical reaction between cleaning materials used in preparation for a new production run was “momentary and minimal,” according to an update issued on 11 November by South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) subsidiary NTP Radioisotopes. The release was well within regulatory limits and, apart from the “minimal” atmospheric releases, was contained within the Pelindaba facility with no impact on facility operators or the public, NTP said. However, production at the site was halted pending the completion of investigations, although NTP promised a return to production “as soon as possible” in its 11 November statement.
Supplies of the isotope were further compromised by the temporary closure of molybdenum production lines at NRG’s Dutch facility because of concerns over levels of uranium in a liquid waste tank on 8 November. NRG’s High Flux Reactor (HFR) is currently out of service while investigations are ongoing into control rod issues identified in early October. The company subsequently announced that it has launched a “return to service” program that it says will help it to avoid unplanned outages in the future. As part of that process, it is bringing all nuclear facilities and connected processes at its Petten site into a safe shutdown mode which could last up to three months.
Another major supplier of the Mo-99, Canada’s Chalk River Laboratory, was forced out of action on 19 November for repairs to the flask used to transport fuel rods and other components including Mo-99 rods in and out of the NRU reactor. Operator AECL announced that it would be unable to meet its planned isotope deliveries for the week ending 23 November, although repair activities were started immediately and the company anticipated a return to service within the week.
After the suspension of the South African and Dutch operations, European industrial group the Association of Imaging Producers and Equipment Suppliers (AIPES) said the companies involved had initiated “all possible necessary coordinated actions in order to mitigate the risks for the security of supply” with reserve capacity being activated wherever possible.
Mo-99 is used in hospitals to generate short-lived technetium-99m for medical imaging procedures. Its short half-life of only 66 hours means that Mo-99 cannot be stockpiled, so the world relies on regular and reliable supplies of the isotope. However, recent years have seen global shortages when several of the handful of ageing research reactors used to produce the vital isotope have been out of action. This has prompted efforts to investigate production of Mo-99 via other routes, such as in cyclotrons, as well as efforts to increase capacity at existing suppliers. Australia’s OPAL reactor, which started up in 2007, could potentially supply half of the world’s demand. Work is currently under way on an expanded molybdenum production facility, with the new capacity due to come online in 2016.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
Environmentalists and reporters in Sochi targeted by Kremlin’s Olympic fever
…Both journalists concluded that the $51 billion the Russian government is spending on the Olympics will have little impact on security and will do nothing to protect the environment or even make lives better for ordinary Sochi citizens. Even prices for various Olympic events, which, according to Beskova, start at about €800, are prohibitively expensive for ordinary Sochi residents.
“This $51 billion is not about Russia,” said Gordienko. “It is about putting on an international show.”….
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2013/sochi_preview
A clampdown is hovering over Sochi, Russia, the site of the 2014 winter Olympic games, which are touted by the administration of Vladimir Putin as a showcase of the new Russia, but are seen on the ground as a heel grinding into the environmental civil liberties of the region’s residents.
The brunt of authoritarian bullying is being meted out on environmental activists, many of who have been forced to flee the country, and reporters, especially those working for smaller Russian publications not associated with the country’s sprawling state media.
Two Russian journalists this week visited Oslo and spoke of this dark underbelly to the preparations surrounding the Games, set to begin in the Black Sea resort town on February 7th.
Traditionally a vacation spot for Russian’s seeking fresh mountain air, beaches and forests, mammoth construction efforts have transformed much of the once pristine region into an ecological war zone and a security protectorate – and Russian officialdom is doing its solid best to make sure no one hears about it.
“[The Olympics] are an important holiday, but not for Russians,” said Olga Beskova, editor of the Sochinskyie Novosti, or Sochi News, who, unlike many of her counterparts in Russia’s fourth estate, has vowed not to downplay the routine harassment of those who would bring to light the iron-fisted approach of the government to gagging bad news from Sochi.
Indeed, when speaking on Thursday, eight of her paper’s 10 front-page articles dealt with unpleasant consequences of Olympic preparation.
Environmental degradation abounds around Sochi
Both Beskova and Irina Gordienko, a reporter with Russia’s famously and fiercely independent Novaya Gazeta, said in an informal meeting at the Norwegian Helsinki Committee before speaking with Norwegian parliamentarians, that swathes of irretrievable, protected forest land have been lost to Olympic venues: A rail connection, overflowing trash dumps, landslides occasioned by construction, deforestation for ski slopes, and crushed-stone quarries have sprouted up in reserve areas of Sochi National Park and even in Sochi itself.
And the slash and burn policies continue: According to activists from the Environmental Watch of the North Caucasus (EWNC), territories of the Western Caucasus UNESCO World Heritage site continue to be rolled back to make way for Olympic construction.
Beskova’s Sochinskiye Novosti on Friday reported about ongoing battles to protect nature reserves from being stripped of their status to make way for luxury Black Sea mansions for Moscow’s nouveau riche – including one for President Vladimir Putin himself – all of whom wish to buy themselves a front row seat to Russia’s first Olympics since the widely-boycotted 1980 Games.
“With the loss of these national parks, we have lost a huge part of our ecosystem in the area,” said Gordienko. Deforestation for railway construction and toxic waste dumping have all but led to the death of the Mzymta River valley.
“Officials have said the river will return to normal within 10 years, but that is clearly not the case,” she said.
Even though leading partners in the Olympic construction have committed to a United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) restoration project for the Mzymta River basin, Gordienko is not convinced these Russian structures will follow through.
“The river is dead,” she said.
Where is the International Olympic Committee?
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) charter commits countries hosting the Games to a so-called “zero-waste” policy, meant to ensure that environmentally friendly waste disposal practices and natural preservation are observed. The charter also stipulates free access for the press before, during and after the games.
When asked if the Russian Olympic movement was living up to these conditions, Beskova and Gordienko laughed wryly. The answer is no.
One more recent example of Russia’s own promise to create the “cleanest games ever” has been a giant toxic dump, called the Akhshtyr landfill, in the middle of a water protection zone where dumping industrial waste is banned.
European review of Taiwanese safety
“Since some plants are located in close vicinity, combinations of events, including multi-unit and multi-site effects, should be assessed in order to identify potential cliff edge effects and related safety enhancements,”
[…]
“Apart from local operating consoles and remote shutdown panels, no alternative emergency control rooms exist that would represent an additional hardened alternative to the main control room,” the EC said
[…]
20 November 2013
By Carmen Paun and Jens Kastner
for World Nuclear News
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-European-review-of-Taiwanese-safety-2011135a.html
Taiwan should update the assessment of all natural hazards that could affect its nuclear power plants, notably for earthquakes and tsunamis, the European Commission (EC) has recommended.
The recommendation followed a peer review performed by the EC and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) of the stress tests carried out on Taiwanese plants in 2012 by operator Taipower and the Taiwanese nuclear safety regulator, the Atomic Energy Council (AEC).
Overall, the peer review found that standards of safety applied to Taiwanese nuclear power plants “seem to be generally high and to conform in most areas to international state-of-the-art practices.” Taiwan currently has three operating nuclear power plants and another one under construction. All four plants were covered by the EC’s peer review.
However, the EC recommended that the island should use more modern techniques in identifying earthquake-related hazards for its plants. It suggested that Taiwanese assessments regarding earthquake hazards do not meet current international requirements and do not take into consideration new geological and geophysical data regarding “capable faults in the site vicinity of the Chinshan, Kuosheng and Maanshan plants.” Older geological records dating back 10,000 years (and not just tsunami data from 1867, as at present) should be considered. Common standards also need to be applied to all Taiwanese plants as there are currently some variations, said the commission.
Chinese nuclear disaster ‘highly probable’ by 2030
…To reduce costs, Chinese designs often cut back on safety….
He Zuoxiu
25th October 2013
h/t http://www.nukefree.org/he-zuoxiu-reactor-disaster-china-likely-2020
As the UK prepares to build a fleet of new nuclear power stations with Chinese capital and expertise, a former state nuclear expert warns: China itself is heading for nuclear catastrophe.
Some members of the nuclear power industry rely too much on theoretical calculations, when only experience can provide real accuracy.
The lifetime of nuclear reactors is calculated in “reactor-years”. One reactor year means one reactor operating for one year. The world’s 443 nuclear power plants have been running for a total of 14,767 reactor-years, during which time there have been 23 accidents involving a reactor core melting. That’s one major accident every 642 reactor years.
But according to the design requirements, an accident of that scale should only happen once every 20,000 reactor years. The actual incidence is 32 times higher than the theory allows.
Some argue this criticism is unfair. After all, 17 of those 23 accidents were caused by human error – something hard to account for in calculations. But human error is impossible to eliminate, and cannot be ignored when making major policy decisions.
Even if we set aside the accidents attributed to human error, technical failings have caused core melting once every 2,461 reactor-years. That’s still more than eight times the theoretical calculation.
Lessons from the US, Russia and Japan
Wind turbine at Fukushima switched on
24 Nov 2013
http://www.machinery-market.co.uk/news/4741/Wind-turbine-at-Fukushima-switched-on
The first turbine at a wind farm 20km off the coast of Fukushima is now feeding electricity to the grid linked to the tsunami-crippled nuclear plant onshore. The wind farm will have a generating capacity of 1GW from 143 turbines; it will help to restore the role of energy supplier to a region decimated by the earthquake and tsunamiin 2011.
Kazuyoshi Akaba — a vice-minister of economy, trade and industry — said: “Many people were victimised and hurt by the accident at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, so it is very meaningful to have a new source of energy — renewable energy — based here.”
Japan, whose coast is mostly ringed by deep waters, is pioneering floating wind turbines, suitable for seas more than 50m deep. The 2MW floating turbine in question was built at a dry dock near Tokyo and towed to its location off the north-eastern coast. Six huge chains anchor it to the sea bed some 120m below.
The turbine is linked to a 66kV floating sub-station — the world’s first, according to the project operators — via an extra-high-voltage under-sea cable. There could eventually be dozens of wind turbines off Fukushima’s scenic but deserted coast. The project is meant to demonstrate the feasibility of locating these towering turbines offshore in places where the winds are more reliable and there are fewer “not in my backyard” concerns.
In theory, Japan has the potential for 1,600GW of wind power, most of it offshore. About a dozen projects are already in progress, from Kyushu in the south to Hokkaido in the north.
1.This Month
British High Court Grants WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange the Right to Appeal U.S. Extradition
21 May Webinar. Protect Our Waterways. No Nuclear Waste.
7 pm Tuesday May 21 https://www.protectourwaterways.org/webinars
24 May. The Vow from Hiroshima film is coming on PBS, this month https://www.thevowfromhiroshima.com/
3 June – FILM. SOS – The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power’s Legacy
6-7 July A summit and a rally in Washington D.C. https://nonatoyespeace.org/
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