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Need to be aware of panic-driven reporting on Fukushima

Fukushima Meltdowns: A Global Conspiracy of Denial By William Boardman Global Research, Reader Supported News January 05, 2014 “……..Fukushima Unit #3 activity led to some panic-driven reporting in 2013

The Japanese government and nuclear power industry have a history of not telling the truth about nuclear accidents dating back at least to 1995, as reported by New Scientist and Rachel Maddow, among others. Despite Japan’s history of nuclear dishonesty, Japanese authorities remain in total control of the Fukushima site and most of the information about it, without significant objection from most of the world’s governments, media, and other power brokers, whose reputation for honesty in nuclear matters is almost as bad as Japan’s. In such a context of no context, the public is vulnerable to reports like this from the Turner Radio Network (TRN) on December 28:

 ** NEWS FLASH – URGENT ** STEAM SUDDENLY EMANATING FROM FUKUSHIMA REACTOR # 3 – WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA SHOULD BEGIN PREPARATIONS FOR POSSIBLE RADIATION CLOUD WITHIN 3 TO 5 DAYS

Five days after this story was posted, the “radiation cloud” had not developed despite the story’s assertion that: “Experts say this could be the beginning of a ‘spent fuel pool criticality (meltdown)’ involving up to 89 TONS of nuclear fuel burning up into the atmosphere and heading to North America.” The story named no “experts” and provided links only to TEPCO announcements in Japanese. The bulk of the story reads like an infomercial for “protective” gear of various sorts that TRN makes a point of saying it does NOT sell.  Despite such obvious warning signs, others – such as The Ecologist and Gizmodo – reported the threat of “another meltdown” at Fukushima Unit #3 as imminent.

Clarification and reassurance quickly started chasing the “new meltdown” rumor around the Internet. ENENEWS (Energy News) promptly posted the TEPCO reports in English, demonstrating that there was nothing “sudden” about the steam releases, they’ve been happening more or less daily since 2011, but condensation caused by cold weather makes them visible. At FAIREWINDS (Energy Education), Arnie Gunderson posted on January 1:

“… the Internet has been flooded with conjecture claiming that Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 is ready to explode…. Our research, and discussions with other scientists, confirms that what we are seeing is a phenomenon that has been occurring at the Daiichi site since the March 2011 accident…. While the plants are shutdown in nuke speak, there is no method of achieving cold shut down in any nuclear reactor. While the reactor can stop generating the actual nuclear chain reaction, the atoms left over from the original nuclear chain reaction continue to give off heat that is called the decay of the radioactive rubble (fission products)…. constantly releasing moisture (steam) and radioactive products into the environment.” [emphasis added]

In other words, Fukushima Unit #3 continues to leak radioactivity into both air and water, as Units #1 and #2 presumably do as well. But as Gunderson explains, the level of radioactivity has declined sharply without becoming benign:

 “When Unit 3 was operating, it was producing more than 2,000 megawatts of heat from the nuclear fission process (chain reaction in the reactor). Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami, it shut down and the chain reaction stopped, but Unit 3 was still producing about 160 megawatts of decay heat. Now, 30 months later, it is still producing slightly less than 1 megawatt (one million watts) of decay heat…. 1 megawatt of decay heat is a lot of heat even today, and it is creating radioactive steam, but it is not a new phenomenon.” ….http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-meltdowns-a-global-conspiracy-of-denial/5363827

January 7, 2014 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Climate change – real and serious – Dr. Reese Halter

climate-changehighly-recommendedEarth’s New Normal: Wild Weather 2014, HUFFINGTON POST  01/04/2014 Each year in early January (2011, 2012, 2013) I have tallied a scorecard on the vicious effects of burning in excess of 85 million tons of carbon fuels daily on our planet. Irrespective of where you live the human-induced effects of global warming are irrefutable and deadly.

As humans ramp-up the destruction of nature in Australia, Canada, Indonesia and elsewhere to feed the insatiable coal and petroleum markets in China, India and the U.S. the amount of melting ice at both poles continues to erode at an astounding rate.

In the Northern Hemisphere less Arctic ice cover in September means that a warming Arctic Ocean is easily able to infuse its latent heat into the Arctic atmosphere. As this occurs an all-hell-break-loose scenario is felt elsewhere – particularly on the eastern half on the North American continent and in the U.K.

The Arctic is warming at least two times faster than the rest of our planet. It’s not just the loss of the white surface, which reflects solar radiation back to space and helps keep Earth at a habitable temperature range for our species that is a concern.

A warming Arctic Ocean of 1.8 degrees (F) has caused the upper atmosphere to change, dramatically. The polar jet stream is a powerful upper atmosphere, sinuous river of air, which normally hugs the North Pole tightly, but since it has been super-charged with Arctic Ocean heat it’s migrating with regularity – southward.

A meandering polar jet stream spells epic wild weather.A massive winter blizzard on January 3, 2014 throughout the Northeast dumped feet of snow with Arctic air spilling bone-chilling temperatures across at least half of the United States. On the Northern Plains, including Iowa, Minnesota, Dakotas and eastern Montana the mercury has plummeted with wind chills reaching in excess of -50 degrees (F)………

The meandering polar jet stream is wreaking havoc on the other side of the Atlantic in the U.K. where the Brits have been lashed and pummeled, again by walls of 30-foot waves in concert with king tides (the highest of the year) and colossal hailstones leaving a horrible wake of destruction including destroyed roads, rail lines and floods that with regularity are breaching the defenses. That destruction may be tame compared to the 50-foot waves predicted for Monday (January 6, 2014).

In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia is broiling and enveloped by yet another drought fraught with bushfires. 2013 was their hottest year ever recorded. At 2degrees (F) above the long-term average it easily surpassed 2005 as the hottest year.Every month in 2013 was 0.9 degree (F) above the normal dating back to the inception of continuous record keeping in 1910. Australia has experienced just one cooler than average year in the last decade — 2011.

Temperatures of 120 degrees (F) occurred January 2, 2014 in South Australia whilst New South Wales is enduring its worst-ever drought. And in tropical Queensland asweltering heat wave has temperatures there reaching 117 degrees (F). Elderly people with chronic illness, especially diabetes and obese people are at terrible risk. In addition, all pets left outside in these inferno-like temperatures stand little chance of survival.

While most North American early January (2014) temperatures resemble the inside of deep freezer – California, on the other hand, is warm and bone-dry. A high-pressure system has stalled over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean diverting the moisture carried by the jet stream northward toward British Columbia and Alaska………

Currently 85 percent of California is experiencing a severe drought; this is very serious because without water the nations leading agricultural producer at $16 billion annually (including the world’s largest almond crop at $3 billion, alone) is in dire straights. The drought is predicted to cost farmers at least $1 billion.

Clearly, the most precious substance on a warming Earth is its fresh water. Until we address our voracious addiction to coal and petroleum and allow innovation our best friend in the 21st century to guide us beyond the present crisis, we can expect more brutal wild weather with its massive price tag of devastation to continue.

Earth Dr Reese Halter is a broadcaster, biologist, educator and author of The Incomparable Honeybee. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-reese-halter/earths-new-normal-wild-we_b_4543416.html

January 7, 2014 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

.Reassurances about Fukushima are as misleading as scare stories

news-nukeFukushima Meltdowns: A Global Conspiracy of Denial By William Boardman Global Research, Reader Supported News January 05, 2014 “……..Reassurances about Fukushima are as misleading as scare stories  The reassuring aspects of the condition of Unit #3 ­– radioactive releases are not new, they’re less intense than they once were, the nuclear waste is cooling ­– while true enough, provide only a false sense of comfort. Also true: radiation is released almost continuously, the releases are uncontrolled, no one seems to be measuring the releases, no one seems to be tracking the releases, no one is assessing accumulation of the releases. And while it’s true that the waste is cooling and decaying, it’s also true that a loss of coolant could lead to another uncontrolled chain reaction. (“Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 is not going to explode,” says Gunderson in a headline, but he can’t know that with certainty.)

For the near future, what all that means, in effect, is that the world has to accept chronic radiation releases from Fukushima as the price for avoiding another catastrophic release. And even then, it’s not a sure thing.

But there’s another aspect of Fukushima Unit #3 that’s even less reassuring. Unit #3 is the one Fukushima reactor that was running on Mixed oxide fuel, or MOX fuel, in its fuel rods. MOX fueltypically uses Plutonium mixed with one or more forms of Uranium. Using Plutonium in fuel rods adds to their toxicity in the event of a meltdown. In part because Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 240,000 years and can be used to make nuclear weapons of “dirty bombs,” its use in commercial reactors remains both limited and controversial. Because it contains Plutonium, MOX fuel is more toxic than other nuclear fuel and will burn at lower temperatures. As Natural Resources News reported in 2011:

 “The mixed oxide fuel rods used in the compromised number three reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi complex contain enough plutonium to threaten public health with the possibility of inhalation of airborne plutonium particles…. Plutonium is at its most dangerous when it is inhaled and gets into the lungs. The effect on the human body is to vastly increase the chance of developing fatal cancers.”

Reportedly, TEPCO plans don’t call for the removal of the MOX fuel in Unit #3 for another decade or more. Fuel removal from Units #1, #2, and #3 is complicated by lethal radiation levels at all three reactors, as well as TEPCO’s inability so far to locate the three melted cores with any precision.

There is ample reason to hope that Fukushima, despite the complex of uncontrollable and deteriorating factors, will not get worse, because even the Japanese don’t want that. But there is little reason to expect anything but  worsening conditions, slowly or suddenly, for years and years to come. And there is even less reason to expect anyone in authority anywhere to be more than minimally and belatedly truthful about an industry they continue to protect, no matter how many people it damages or kills.

The perfect paradigm of that ruthlessly cynical nuclear mentality is the current Japanese practice of recruiting homeless people to work at Fukushima in high level radiation areas where someone with something to lose might not be willing to go for minimum wage. http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-meltdowns-a-global-conspiracy-of-denial/5363827

January 7, 2014 Posted by | general | 2 Comments

European countries’ Energy Ministers call for 2030 2030 renewables target

Germany, France call for 2030 renewables target European Voice, By Dave Keating  –  06.01.2014   CET Commission expected to propose later this month an emissions reduction target only. Eight national energy ministers have written a letter to Günther Oettinger, European commissioner for energy, and Connie Hedegaard, European commissioner for climate, calling for the European Commission to propose a new target for renewable energy for 2030.

The letter, sent just before Christmas, comes after a year of increasing resistance to the idea of extending the current ‘multiple target’ strategy for 2020.

The letter is signed by Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s new energy minister and chair Germany’s Social Democrat party, now in governing coalition with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats. It is thought that Gabriel’s strong backing may give new momentum to the idea of establishing a new renewable energy target. The letter is also signed by the energy ministers of France, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Austria, Belgium and Portugal.   …….

The letter says that a 2030 renewable energy target will provide investment certainty and allow “efficient planning and expansion of the European grid”. It goes on to say that the 2020 renewable energy target led to “jobs and growth” and says there will be “more jobs and growth” if a 2030 target is adopted. ……http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2014/january/germany-france-call-for-2030-renewables-target/79199.aspx

January 7, 2014 Posted by | politics | Leave a comment

After a nuclear war between India and Pakistan – a global nuclear winter

Nuclear-Winter-Kent Shifferd: Nuclear winter follows war http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20140105/OPINION02/301050007/Kent-Shifferd-Nuclear-winter-follows-war Kent Shifferd, Ph.D., Jan. 3, 2014 What could be worse than a nuclear war? A nuclear famine following a nuclear war. And where is the most likely nuclear war to break out? The India-Pakistan border.

Both countries are nuclear armed, and although their arsenals are “small” compared to the U.S. and Russia, they are extremely deadly. Pakistan has about 100 nuclear weapons; India about 130.

They have fought three wars since 1947 and are contending bitterly for control over the Kashmir and for influence in Afghanistan……

Experts predict a nuclear war between India and Pakistan would kill about 22 million people from blast, acute radiation, and firestorms. However, the global famine caused by such a “limited” nuclear war would result in two billion deaths over 10 years.

That’s right, a nuclear famine. A war using fewer than half their weapons would lift so much black soot and soil into the air that it would cause a nuclear winter. Such a scenario was known as far back as the 1980s, but no one had calculated the impact on agriculture.

The irradiated cloud would cover vast portions of the earth, bringing low temperatures, shorter growing seasons, sudden crop-killing extremes of temperature, altered rainfall patterns and would not dissipate for about 10 years.

Now, a new report based on some very sophisticated studies reveals the crop losses that would result and the number of people who would be put at risk for malnutrition and starvation.

The computer models show declines in wheat, rice, corn, and soybeans. Overall production of crops would fall, hitting their low in year five and gradually recovering by year ten.

Corn and soybeans in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri would suffer an average of 10 percent and, in year five, 20 percent.

In China, corn would fall by 16 percent over the decade, rice by 17 percent, and wheat by 31 percent. Europe would also have declines.

Making the impact even worse, there are already almost 800 million malnourished people in the world. A mere 10 percent decline in their calorie intake puts them at risk for starvation.

And we will add hundreds of millions of people to the world population over the next couple of decades……

And what follows famine is epidemic disease.

“Nuclear Famine: Two Billion People at Risk?” is a report from a world-wide federation of medical societies, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (Nobel Peace Prize recipients, 1985) and their American affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility.

It’s online at http://www.psr.org/resources/two-billion-at-risk.html They have no political axe to grind. Their sole concern is human health.

What can you do? The only way to assure ourselves this global disaster will not happen is to join the global movement to abolish these weapons of mass destruction.

Start with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (http://www.icanw.org/). We abolished slavery. We can get rid of these terrible instruments of destruction.

January 7, 2014 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

Steam from Fukushima nuclear reactor no.3 is still an important matter

Nuclear Expert: Why Steam From Reactor 3 at Fukushima Matters nsnbc International, Susanne Posel (OC) 5 Jan 14– In September of 2013, steam was observed coming from Reactor 3. The average temperature in Fukushima was 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) during the daytime high. Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR) spoke about the steam and warned that it could be indicative of an under-reported problem. Edwards explained that “nobody quite understands what’s going on . . . in fact there’s been several incidents of steam escaping.”…….

On 17 December 2013, TEPCO began to “remove fuel assemblies from the Reactor 3 Spent Fuel Pool, (and began with the) removal of large-size debris in the Spent Fuel Pool”. Not long after TEPCO began this operation, steam once again began to emanate from Reactor 3.

Since 24 December 2013, reports, directly from TEPCO’s website, have confirmed that steam has been emanating from Rector 3. The daytime high temperature during the 3 days in question was 6 degrees Celsius or43 degrees Fahrenheit.

Over the course of 3 days, reports continued, claiming that no “abnormal plant conditions” have been identified at Rector 3, where the steam has been observed via a camera.

A recent commentary on the steam rising from Rector 3, claims that because it is currently winter in “much of the northern hemisphere” that the steam is simply “hot water vapor [being] released daily”, from the devastated Fukushima nuclear plant.

Under normal conditions, with temperature differences between the environment and the nuclear plant, this explanation would make sense. Although the steam, rising from Reactor 3, is undeniably more visible during the winter months, it is certainly not just ordinary “hot water vapor” as some media outlets may suggest.

Indeed, the winter weather water vapor theory does not account for TEPCO surveillance cameras recording steam rising from Reactor 3 in the middle of summer, as was shown in this video.

The specific elements contained within the steam should be the focal point of discussion in terms of properly appreciating the potential consequences yet to manifest at Reactor 3.

In 2011, at Reactor 3, the water in the reactor vessel evaporated. Fuel became uncovered, and heated up to a temperature of 2,300 degrees Celsius. It mixed with the materials of the structure to form magma called Corium.

The Corium flowed down to the bottom of the reactor vessel, which is made of steel. According to Japanese investigators, the Corium pierced the reactor vessel before falling on the concrete basement inside the containment.

Questions about how much erosion to the concrete has occurred because of the Corium still remain unanswered. The steam emanating from Reactor 3 is most assuredly radioactive. In fact, TEPCO lied at first about Corium melting through concrete and steel casings.

The Institute of Applied Energy (IAE) pointed out that, at least in Reactor 1, the Corium did indeed melt through the barriers, causing the vessel to “tilt”.

Reactor 3 could be showing sings that Corium may be the cause of a possible future disaster if the Corium comes into contact with radioactive water, causing a violent reaction such as a steam explosion…….. http://nsnbc.me/2014/01/04/nuclear-expert-steam-reactor-3-fukushima-matters/

January 7, 2014 Posted by | Fukushima 2014 | 1 Comment

United Arab Emirates offers renewable energy jobs

Green-collar UAE jobs for those seeking a career in renewable energy, Emirates  Demand for clean energy and environmentally responsible manufacturing has given rise to many job opportunities By Shuchita Kapur Sunday, January 05, 2014 It’s not a new career option in the job market but many professionals are now thinking about green-collar jobs rather than the normal and boring mundane white-collar jobs we are so familiar with.

These green-collar jobs are already a growing part of the global economy and have found their place in the UAE as well. As demand has risen for clean energy and environmentally responsible manufacturing, many job opportunities have opened up here in the country for such professionals and green-collar workers, who are producing everything from wind turbines to electric cars to organic clothing and food.

Keeping in mind the growing market of renewable energy, the UAE will be offering job opportunities to candidates this month. Masdar Institute and Reed Exhibitions will co-host a career event for aspiring professionals in this category.

This Green Career Fair will be held during the 7th World Future Energy Summit from January 20-22, 2014, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and the organisers say this will be a valuable opportunity for recruiters to highlight job opportunities and provide career guidance in the advanced energy and sustainability industry…….

And who all can expect to land jobs in the sector? The organisers believe that investments in renewable energy is one of the key potential catalysts for job growth in the sector. There is an expected growth in demand for architects, engineers, urban planners and environmental experts specialised in building sustainable cities and communities, smart power grids, wind farms, solar power plants, hydroelectric  plants, and energy efficient transportation systems, as governments adopt sustainability in their economic development plans.

In addition, a series of supporting and indirect jobs will be created as a result of localised technology in the region like manufacturing, construction, and operation and maintenance. http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/green-collar-uae-jobs-for-those-seeking-a-career-in-renewable-energy-2014-01-05-1.533531

January 7, 2014 Posted by | general | 1 Comment

Over 110,000 containers of nuclear waste dumped in ocean by USA

Where’s All the Nuclear Waste We Dumped in the Ocean? WALL STREET JOURNAL RAISES QUESTIONS DECADES LATER By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff  Jan 5, 2014 – The US dumped vast quantities of nuclear material off its coasts between 1946 and 1970—more than 110,000 containers, says one official count. Today, the whereabouts of many of those 55-gallon drums and other containers is a big question mark, the Wall Street Journalreports. “Many were not dropped on target,” according to a 2010 federal report. Their location is just one of several major questions raised by the Journal. It’s also unclear, for instance, how many dump sites there were: Government reports have given numbers ranging from 29 to 60. Then there’s the question of how much radioactivity persists, since some isotopes can stay radioactive for thousands of years……http://www.newser.com/story/180117/wheres-all-the-nuclear-waste-we-dumped-in-the-ocean.html

January 7, 2014 Posted by | general | 1 Comment

Manmohan Singh’s nuclear deal with USA was his worst accomplishment

Nuclear deal lowest point in Manmohan Singh’s tenure: Arun Jaitley Zee News by   Monday, January 06, 2014 New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party, singed by Manmohan Singh’s remarks against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday took the Prime Minister on saying the nuclear deal with the US was actually the lowest point of his tenure.

Sharing the dais with Baba Ramdev, senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley said that the nuclear deal with the US was nothing to be proud of for the PM. “Country is suffering due to the nuke deal with US,” Jaitley said…http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/nuclear-deal-lowest-point-in-manmohan-singh-s-tenure-arun-jaitley_901658.html

January 7, 2014 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

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