Citizen scientists can fill information gaps – David Suzuki
An Internet search turns up an astounding number of pages about radiation from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown that followed an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. But it’s difficult to find credible information.
One reason is that government monitoring of radiation and its effects on fish stocks appears to be limited. According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, “No U.S. government or international agency is monitoring the spread of low levels of radiation from Fukushima along the West Coast of North America and around the Hawaiian Islands.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s most recent food testing, which includes seafood, appears to be from June 2012. Its website states, “FDA has no evidence that radionuclides from the Fukushima incident are present in the U.S. food supply at levels that would pose a public health concern. This is true for both FDA-regulated food products imported from Japan and U.S. domestic food products, including seafood caught off the coast of the United States.”
The non-profit Canadian Highly Migratory Species Foundation has been monitoring Pacific troll-caught albacore tuna off the B.C. coast. Its 2013 sampling found “no residues detected at the lowest detection limits achievable.” The B.C. Centre for Disease Control website assures us we have little cause for concern about radiation from Japan in our food and environment. Websites for Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency yield scant information.
But the disaster isn’t over. Despite the Japanese government’s claim that everything is under control, concerns have been raised about the delicate process of removing more than 1,500 nuclear fuel rod sets, each containing 60 to 80 fuel rods with a total of about 400 tonnes of uranium, from Reactor 4 to a safer location, which is expected to take a year. Some, including me, have speculated another major earthquake could spark a new disaster. And Reactors 1, 2 and 3 still have tonnes of molten radioactive fuel that must be cooled with a constant flow of water.
A radioactive plume is expected to reach the West Coast sometime this year, but experts say it will be diluted by currents off Japan’s east coast and, according to the Live Science website, “the majority of the cesium-137 will remain in the North Pacific gyre – a region of ocean that circulates slowly clockwise and has trapped debris in its center to form the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ – and continue to be diluted for approximately a decade following the initial Fukushima release in 2011.”
Unite to strike again, prejudicing nuclear safety at Faslane and Coulport
On an 82% constituency vote, 95% of workers in the Unite union employed at the naval bases at Faslane and Coulport, within HMNB Clyde in Argyll, have opted to strike because the 1% pay increase offered by their employer Babcock, is below inflation.
The action – whose date or dates have yet to be decided, with mass meetings to be held – is said to be likely to impact on nuclear submarine maintenance – Faslane is the UK Trident nuclear submarine base; and on the monitoring of radiation levels at the base, a matter in which the existing record at Faslane is far from reassuring.
At one point, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency said that if it had the authority to do so, it would close the base.
In London this evening the city was in chaos, with the first of two 48 hour strike on the London Underground planned by the RMT and TSSA unions. only 40% of the tube workers voted. The strike decision was taken on a majority vote of those who did vote. This is hardly a defensible foundation for crashing the country’s metropolis.
The second of the two 48 hour strikes is to start at 21.00 on Tuesday 11th February.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnston UK Government is calling for the UK Government to consider whether to designate the Underground an essential service, an action which would make it more difficult for workers to strike.
The confrontational stand offs between workers and employers, resulting in strikes like these and in those we may see at Faslane and Coulport are from the archaeology of industrial relations and must be replaced.
If the London tube is an essential service – and it unarguably is – work connected with the armed services must be similarly off limits for strike action.
Unite all but took out Scotland itself in its astonishingly ill-judged action at Grangemouth only months ago.
It has also been seen in the report leaked to The Guardian this week as having taken wholly improper action to rig the selection of the Labour Party candidate for the Falkirk Westminster seat in favour of Unite employee and favourite, Karie Murphy.
And despite all of this, it is irresponsible enough to promise that the impact of its planned strikes at the nuclear facilities at Faslane and Coulport will be ‘significant’.
Moscow Agrees to Process Uzbekistan’s Spent Nuclear Fuel
Wednesday 5 February 2014
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/russia-agrees-process-uzbekistans-spent-nuclear-fuel/
Russia has approved an agreement with Uzbekistan to import some used research-reactor fuel for reprocessing, Interfax reported on Monday.
Under the draft agreement, signed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Jan. 29, the output from the reprocessing — including any plutonium or uranium — will not be sent back to Uzbekistan. Instead, Russia will use, store or dispose of materials that emerge from the procedures.
The draft text of the deal specifies that the spent fuel and any atomic material derived from such activities cannot be used “for any types of nuclear weapons and nuclear explosive devices” or other military research.
With Medvedev’s approval, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the state-atomic energy firm, Rosatom, have been directed to hold final talks with Uzbekistan and sign off on the deal when it is completed.
Fire Prompts Evacuation of New Mexico Nuclear Repository
Update ; Feb 05, 2014, 11:21 PM GMT 15m
Chief Scientist at New Mexico Nuclear Site where underground fire is underway says sensors indicate air is clear – no nuclear release – @astoneabcnews……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Earlier article
The repository is licensed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency every five years, said Rod McCullum, the director of used-fuels programs at the Nuclear Energy Institute.
CARLSBAD, N.M. February 5, 2014
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/fire-prompts-evacuation-nuclear-repository-22380709
Emergency crews battled a fire Wednesday at the southeastern New Mexico site where the federal government seals away its low-grade nuclear waste, including plutonium-contaminated clothing and tools.
Six people were treated for smoke inhalation and released a short while later after a truck hauling salt caught fire at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad.
All employees were evacuated from the underground site after the fire broke out about 11 a.m. Wednesday, and none of the radioactive waste was impacted, plant officials said.
Authorities said they weren’t sure what caused the blaze.
At an afternoon news conference, officials said the fire occurred on a truck hauling salt in the facility’s north mine, The Carlsbad Current-Argus reported. Nuclear waste is stored in the south mine, officials said.
Fire suppression systems and rescue teams were immediately activated, and all waste handling operations were suspended, officials said.
A spokeswoman answering an emergency line late Wednesday afternoon said it was unclear if the fire was still burning or when the site might reopen. Any re-entry must be approved by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Snippets on the week’s nuclear news
Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs
World Cancer Day Feb 4. Conservative global health body names ionising radiation as a major cause of cancer http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/820166
Japan Tokyo’s governor election Feb 9 – nuclear issue is important factor
India: Shinzo Abe’s nuclear marketing push not getting far.
USA: Latest announcement from USA insurance companies – NO cover for nuclear radiation claims of any kind. Mainstream media very quiet about Fukishima ongoing disaster. Nuclear power in the USA struggles to expand – EIA`s 2014 energy report. USA wants to market nuclear power overseas for the next 95 years
Enthusiasm for renewable energy in USA States of Kansas and Maine
Hungary: growing protest against nuclear power plans
Shinzo Abe’s nuclear marketing trip to India not a success
assurances don’t reassure. Abe’s visit provoked widespread protests against the proposed agreement and for a change these were actually covered by the mainstream press. As most of those in protest presumably realize, the primary goal should be to have the idea of reactors at Jaitapur and Mithi Virdi and Kovvada abandoned. And there is some hope for that. Recently even the nuclear establishment seems to have realized that the cost of imported reactors is prohibitively high and the secretive “negotiations” they have been involved in for several years now don’t seem to be making the price come down to anywhere close what they think they can get away with.
Resisting Abe’s Sales Pitch Dianuke.org, 5 Feb 14 After all the build-up over the last few weeks, it seems that the best that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could come up with after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was: “Our negotiations towards an agreement for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy have gained momentum in the last few months”. The blandness of the statement suggests that the momentum cannot be all that great and the pace of movement on the agreement is quite slow.
This is reinforced by a comparison to the best that Manmohan Singh and then Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan could say about their meeting in 2010…..
Exports “of nuclear components and technology, as well as conventional arms” are said to be a key element in Prime Minister Abe economic program, dubbed “Abenomics” by many. This is somewhat reminiscent of the Soviet Union after the Chernobyl disaster, when the Soviet nuclear industry was desperate to improve its image and Soviet leaders were willing to sell nuclear reactors at concessional prices. Continue reading
Ernest Moniz and the heavily subsidised nuclear industry silent about ongoing disaster of Fukushima
Nuclear Diplomacy: the Great Charade, The Humiliation of Iran CounterPunch,by CARL BOGGS, 4 Feb 14 “……..A recent Foreign Affairs article (by Ernest Moniz ,USA Energy Secretary, pictured at left ) captures the mainstream Western obsession with the nuclear enterprise, under the heading “Why We Still Need Nuclear Power”. The predictably clear-cut answer: to fight the perils of climate change.
This same message was focus of a 2013 CNN documentary, Pandora’s Promise, in which critics of nuclear power like 
HelenCaldicott and Ralph Nader are depicted as marginal, out-of-touch crazies. Paradoxically, some proponents of nuclear energy argue that Iran should abandon its (irrational) nuclear hopes and generate more electricity from its massive reserves of fossil fuels. The Iranians, for their part, proclaim an understandable desire for more diversified sources of electricity in a society that has seen energy consumption grow six times over the past two decades.
When it comes to Fukushima, Obama and other elites – falling in line with the extremely profitable (and highly-subsidized) nuclear industry – have been mostly silent about the catastrophe and its repercussions for future atomic-energy projects. While nuclear reactors currently provide less than ten percent of electricity worldwide, the realistic industry hope is for a doubling or even tripling of that level within the next decade……..http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/04/nuclear-diplomacy-the-great-charade/
CARL BOGGS is author of The Crimes of Empire (Pluto) and Ecology and Revolution (Macmillan), among his most recent books.
Mainstream media very very quiet about nuclear radiation risk to Tokyo’s water supply
The question is, how far and how long will it take the radiation to spread underground? Scientists in Japan are not going to talk about this otherwise risk losing their careers for “scare mongering” and the “spreading of false rumors.” Since “science follows funding” it would probably not make for good public relations for hydrologists to be employed to build computer models predicting the worst case outcomes for the continuing leaks of radiation on the Tokyo water supply
Will Fukushima’s Leaking Radiation Contaminate Tokyo’s Water Supply?, Activist Post, Richard Wilcox, Ph.D 5 Feb 14, Anyone who has been following the ongoing nightmare of the Fukushima nuclear disaster will know that over the past months there have been a slew of news articles documenting the contamination of the land and water beneath the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant No. 1 (FNPP#1), also referred to as “Dai-ichi,” meaning “no. 1.” The radioactive contamination beneath the FNPP#1 is both highly radioactive and being found at great depths.
Situated on the edge of the ocean, FNPP#1 is built on soft and spongy “fill” soil and is nearly the opposite of Chernobyl where that power plant’s foundation was rock solid.
We can clearly detect a pattern here: the corium globs (melted fuel) from the three melted down reactors (numbers 1, 2, 3) are in unknown locations. That melted fuel could either be in the bottom of the reactor buildings where it is constantly being cooled by the coolant water that Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) is pumping onto it, or melted through the bottom of the buildings and undergoing a China Syndrome phenomenon. Either way not only is coolant water leaking out of the buildings before it is recycled into safer storage tanks, but also groundwater is seeping up into those buildings, becoming contaminated, then pouring out again. The contaminated water is traveling both into the ground water and out to sea.
Just recently it has been reported that Tepco is planning to dump all of the stored water on site, as they are running out of space! The filtration system is imperfect and does not remove all radionuclides reliably, and crucially does not remove any tritium, which would be the main source of radiation to be dumped into the ocean……
However, the groundwater contamination issue is something few people are talking about………
it would be logical to hypothesize that the contaminated water leaking from FNPP#1 is finding its way not only into the local and shallow aquifers but ultimately the major Tokyo aquifer. The levels of radiation and the length of time that it would take for the radiation to reach Tokyo might be of minimal concern. That said, radionuclides like cesium and strontium are around for hundreds of years.
The question is, how far and how long will it take the radiation to spread underground? Scientists in Japan are not going to talk about this otherwise risk losing their careers for “scare mongering” and the “spreading of false rumors.” Since “science follows funding” it would probably not make for good public relations for hydrologists to be employed to build computer models predicting the worst case outcomes for the continuing leaks of radiation on the Tokyo water supply….http://www.activistpost.com/2014/02/will-fukushimas-leaking-radiation.html
“deformed fuel assemblies” in Fukuahima Unit 4 nuclear fuel cooling pool
Investigation of “deformed fuel assemblies” from Unit 4 pool at Fukushima — “Confirmation of cracks” due to mishandling in past (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/investigation-of-deformed-fuel-assemblies-from-unit-4-pool-at-fukushima-confirmation-of-cracks-due-to-mishandling-in-past-video
TEPCO (pdf), Dec. 27, 2013 (emphasis added): Cracks Found during Inspection on Fuel Assembly Having Deformation in Fukushima Daiichi NPS Unit 4 Spent Fuel Pool — Regarding a fuel assembly having its handle/channel box deformed (*) due to mishandling in the past, an inspection of the shape was conducted to know the degree of deformation. During the inspection, cracks were found in the channel box of the fuel assembly. We consider these cracks were caused when the channel box was deformed in the past. During this inspection, there was no change in the radioactive material concentrations in water of the spent fuel pool and the doses obtained by area monitoring. (*) The occurrence situation and the investigation summary have been disclosed in NUCIA (Nuclear Information Archives) (Report No. 1982-Tokyo-T003）
TEPCO, Jan. 30, 2014: Investigation into deformed fuel assemblies in the spent fuel pool at Unit 4 in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station >> Videos of deformed fuel assemblies here
TEPCO, Jan. 30, 2014: Confirmation of cracks by investigation into deformed fuel assemblies in the spent fuel pool at Unit 4 in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station >> Video of cracks in fuel assemblies here
Conservative global health body names ionising radiation as a major cause of cancer
The list continues with radiation exposure, which includes excessive sunlight and excessive use of medical diagnostic procedures such as CAT scans, particularly in children
Prevention Is Crucial to Stem ‘Tidal Wave of Cancer’ , Medscape, Zosia Chustecka February 04, 2014 Prevention of cancer is key, say experts speaking out today on World Cancer Day.
Cancer as a single entity is now the world’s leading cause of death, with 8.2 million deaths a year, according to the Union for International Cancer Control. Prevention has a crucial role to play in stemming the “tidal wave of cancer that we are facing,” said Dr. Bernard Stewart, from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and coeditor of the World Cancer Report 2014, issued by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
“It’s untenable to think that we can treat our way out of the cancer problem. Speaking at a press briefing in London, Dr. Wild said that he has been working in cancer research for more than 30 years, and when people hear that, the first thing they always ask is, “Have you found the cure yet?” Nobody ever asks about prevention, and yet this is key, he said……….Top of the list is tobacco control, which is thought to cause about 20% of all cancers globally…….The list continues with radiation exposure, which includes excessive sunlight and excessive use of medical diagnostic procedures such as CAT scans, particularly in children…….
Australia has its own particular cancer problem — that of melanoma — which results from the “Aussie lifestyle of lying on golden sands until you are cooked evenly on both side,” commented Dr. Stewart…..http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/820166
US “modernising” nuclear forces to enrich corporate profiteers like Raytheon, Northrop-Grumman, and Lockheed-Martin
Nuclear Diplomacy: the Great Charade, The Humiliation of Iran CounterPunch,by CARL BOGGS, 4 Feb 14 “………Within the U.S. Congress, bipartisan consensus holds sway around the goal of modernizing “strategic nuclear offensive forces” that Republicans (and some Democrats) want to fund through cuts in Medicare, Social Security, and other social programs. Such political agreement is rooted in a deeply-entrenched nuclear establishment going back to World War II, the Manhattan Project, atomic bombings of Japan, and first rumblings of the Cold War.Is Richard Branson switching allegiance from nuclear power to renewable energy?
Branson hosts renewable energy summit in CaribbeanChron, By DAVID McFADDEN, Associated Press | February 4, 2014 KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Caribbean politicians and renewable power experts gathered Tuesday on British billionaire Richard Branson‘s private isle to discuss ways of transitioning to clean energy in an effort to spur small island nations to slash their dependence on fossil fuels and prepare for the impacts of climate change.
Branson, the CEO and founder of the Virgin Group of companies, is hosting a three-day meeting of political and business leaders at Necker Island, his home in the British Virgin Islands where he has developed an exclusive eco-resort showcasing renewable energy technology.
The event is organized by the Carbon War Room, a nonprofit company Branson co-founded to promote cutbacks in greenhouse-gas emissions through smart private enterprise. It hopes to help small islands become carbon-neutral by accelerating commercial investment. Political delegations from 13 countries and territories, including several heads of state, are attending along with representatives from dozens of companies and multinational organizations.
Branson said he believes the sun-splashed, wind-swept Caribbean can set a global example by embracing renewable power and energy self-reliance. The region with deep renewable resources and scant energy security now derives nearly all of its electricity from plants that burn imported oil and diesel……http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Branson-hosts-renewable-energy-summit-in-Caribbean-5203519.php?cmpid=usworldhcat
Richard Wilcox on Tokyo’s governor election and the nuclear issue
Will Fukushima’s Leaking Radiation Contaminate Tokyo’s Water Supply?, Activist Post, Richard Wilcox, Ph.D 5 Feb 14,“…….Just a brief note on the upcoming Tokyo city mayoral election. It should come as no surprise that the Nuclear Lobby’s candidate, Mr. Masuzoe, is in the lead to win. Masuzoe favors a gradual phase out of nuclear power, which is vague enough to mean anything or nothing and is typical political doublespeak. Masuzoe is a former health minister but has not been outspoken about the dangers of radiation. Prime Minister Abe stands firmly behind Masuzoe while the Japanese media studiously ignores the other candidates, virtually assuring a Masuzoe “victory.”
Former Japan Prime Minister, Mr. Hosokawa, who has spoken out strongly and intelligently against nuclear power, is lagging behind according to one opinion poll. Alas, the opposition candidates are not organized against the Nuclear Lobby’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who have been in power since WWII. The fragmented “opposition” led by the Japan Communist Party (JCP) inevitably guarantee LDP hegemony, due to their inflexibility and dogmatic approach to politics. Talk about pounding your head against a brick wall, it almost seems like the JCP are a paid opposition to insure no viable third way can occur.
In Tokyo the billboards that advertise candidates show a sleepy looking Hosokawa, a political has-been who appears to be been sitting at the end of the bar drinking whisky and singing karaoke. On the other hand, the LDP’s glad-hander, Mr. Masuzoe is cheerful and looks as if he just had a fresh injection of botox. After all, Masuzoe is a retired TV commentator and a friendly TV face to the bewildered masses who don’t know where to turn.
The JCP candidate, Mr. Utsunomiya, is probably a very intelligent and principled candidate, a lawyer who is said to fight for justice for the average worker. Unfortunately, the man has a mild mannered appearance and demeanor that rivals the excitment of a comatose flea on a rhino’s backside.
I hope I am wrong but I’m afraid the LDP will stay in power and not only will nuclear power plants be restarted after the post-3/11 shutdowns, it is even possible that new reactors could be built in Japan! It should be noted that very few LDP politicians actually support the latter option. On the other hand, a rational plan for renewable energy that is badly needed, and could in theory provide one hundred percent of Japan’s electricity needs by 2050, will be further sabotaged…..
Walter Pincus on the stress for Air Force nuclear officers
Fine Print: For Air Force officers, the long wait for a nuclear attack can be a borehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fine-print-for-air-force-officers-waiting-for-the-nuclear-attack-can-be-a-bore/2014/02/03/f2f1de26-8a97-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html By Walter Pincus It’s not stress, drugs or cheating on proficiency tests that’s the problem for about 550 Air Force officers who serve 24-hour shifts in capsules 60 feet underground. They’re waiting — as their predecessors have done for 50 years — to launch nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The real cause of their difficulties is their “mission”: to be ready to turn keys and press buttons on a moment’s notice in response to an attack that no one really expects will ever come.
Energy efficiency – cleantech attracting interest from investors
And in terms of green investing, the boring concepts of energy efficiency and pollution remediation could actual make portfolios more money over the longer haul than sexier solar and wind power. For investors, there’s a wide world of cleantech ripe for the picking……
And spending on the non-renewable side of cleantech is rising quite quickly…….The Bottom Line
Cleantech is much more than just “sexy” renewable energy like solar and wind. Covering a wide range of ideals, spending in the sector is poised to continue growing in the years ahead. That might just grow investor’s portfolios as well. The previous ideas- along with smart grid play Digi International (NASDAQ:DGII) –make ideal selections to play the trend.
Disclosure – At the time of writing, the author did not own shares of any company mentioned in this article. http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/020414/cleantech-more-just-renewable-energy-icln-pzd-fslr-abb-cree-ccc-pll-jci-dgii.aspx
1 This Month.
5 January -Webinar-What is Trump’s Golden Dome?
REGISTER AT Massachusetts Peace Action Education
New book – https://www.amazon.com/dp/1923372157?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Now until to February 10, 2026 Radioactive waste storage in France: the debate is finally open! How to participate?
-
Archives
- December 2025 (293)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (377)
- September 2025 (258)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
- June 2025 (348)
- May 2025 (261)
- April 2025 (305)
- March 2025 (319)
- February 2025 (234)
- January 2025 (250)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 