Pro nuclear win in Tokyo’s election, as anti-nuclear vote split
Comprehensive agenda, anti-nuclear failures ensured Masuzoe victory, Japan Times 10 Feb 14 Yoichi Masuzoe’s ability to address a wide range of issues and the failure of his rivals to keep the public’s attention focused on nuclear energy were the keys to his victory in Sunday’s Tokyo gubernatorial election, experts say……
Meiji Gakuin University professor Tomoya Kaji said. “The camps that were calling for phasing out nuclear power were not able to make the matter an important issue.”
Aoyama, however, said the election didn’t see enough discussion of the matter. He said that if the candidates had taken nuclear energy more seriously, they would have discussed not only the makeup of Tokyo’s energy sources, but also how to deal with electricity prices, transmission and distribution after abolition.
“It was not good that the candidates didn’t provide a viable path to” zero-nuclear dependence, Aoyama said……
Moreover, it appears the anti-nuclear vote was split, despite recent requests by a group of anti-nuclear activists that either Hosokawa or Utsunomiya drop out. The two appeared to be running even.
According to a Tokyo Shimbun telephone survey conducted from Feb. 3 to 5 on 1,006 residents, the backing of the 53.3 percent of respondents who oppose reactor restarts was split among Masuzoe, Hosokawa and Utsunomiya, the former chairman of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations…… http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/02/09/national/comprehensive-agenda-anti-nuclear-failures-ensured-masuzoe-victory/#.UvjWzW
Huge hurdles to overcome before restarting Japan’s nuclear reactors
Japan’s nuclear re-start bogged down in safety checks and paperwork, Daily Times 9 Feb 14 Hundreds of technicians and engineers are camped out in Tokyo hotels trying to revive Japan’s nuclear industry, shut down in the wake of the Fukushima disaster almost three years ago.
It’s proving a hard slog. A new, more independent regulator is in place, asking difficult questions and seeking to impose tougher safety rules on powerful utilities that were largely their own masters for the past 50 years.
Interviews with utility and nuclear industry staff, regulators and government officials reveal a climate of uncertainty, frustration and long hours…..
Uranium investing losing its glow – Paladin and Cameco
Weak uranium prices force closure of Paladin mine, Financial Review PETER KER AND ANGELA MACDONALD-SMITH 10 FEB 2014 Uranium miners are starting to cut back production amid a growing belief that the sector will not recover in the near term.
ASX listed Paladin Energy has confirmed one of its two mines will cease production until the uranium price recovers, while one of the world’s biggest uranium miners, Cameco, has cut its growth schedule and warned the ‘‘stagnant, over supplied’’ market was not going to improve any time soon.Cameco had previously promised to increase uranium production by 50 per cent over the next four years, but on Saturday the company said such long-term production forecasts were no longer appropriate in the current market conditions.
‘‘Market challenges have persisted since early 2011 and we expect they will continue for the near to medium term,’’ the Canadian company said in a statement.
Uranium prices have been on a downward trend since the Fukushima nuclear crisis damaged confidence in the industry in 2011……
Cameco deferred its Kintyre uranium project in Western Australia in 2012, and on Saturday it vowed to ‘‘decrease activities in Australia’’ even further.,,,,,,http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/weak_uranium_prices_forces_closure_6Jq1zMnOONO3LAxC4jQkTM
Kansas and other USA States strongly support renewable energy
Strong Support for Clean Energy, and the Jobs It Creates, Crosses Party Lines http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/plehner/strong_support_for_clean_energ.html 9 Feb 14 A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says the renewable energy industry is responsible for 615,000 jobs in the United States. That’s hundreds of thousands of Americans working to provide this country with clean energy from wind, sun and plants. It’s the military vet in Kansas putting her hydraulics knowledge to work in her new job servicing 300-foot-tall wind turbines. It’s the former glass maker in Toledo, Ohio, who’s now manufacturing solar panels. It’s the farmer who’s got a new buyer in the biofuel plant just across the county line. It’s engineers and managers and truckers and technicians in nearly every state in the nation.
Clean Energy Works for US: Kelley Moore, Clipper Wind
Renewable energy development is making a difference in this country, bringing sorely needed jobs and revenue to communities, while protecting clean air and clean water. Clean, renewable energy is working for us. That’s why so many Americans, from all political stripes, want to see more of it.
A recent national poll found that voters preferred investing in clean energy and efficiency over traditional fossil fuel energy by a margin of nearly 2-to-1. In Kansas, a recent poll found overwhelming support for clean, renewable energy and the government policies that encourage its growth. Roughly three-quarters of Republicans and Independents, and 82 percent of Democrats, support the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires that utilities generate 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. In fact, two-thirds of voters said they would support increasing the state’s standard to 25 percent. Nine out of ten poll respondents believed that using renewable energy is the right thing to do for the future of Kansas and the country.
Communities in Kansas are not alone in reaping the benefits of clean, renewable energy. Continue reading
Taking renewable energy seriously for investors
5 Different Ways to Invest in Renewable Energy greentech media, Tam Hunt 
outlines the diversifying investment options in clean energy. Tam Hunt February 5, 2014 The renewable energy industry is well past its training-wheels phase and now offers many ways to invest in all types of assets. I’ve been an investor in renewables off and on for the last couple of decades, and I offer in this column a little nonprofessional advice about how best to get into this field as an investor…..
A friend of mine gave me his lifetime of accumulated investment wisdom recently: Figure out the big waves that you want to ride in the long term and position your surfboard accordingly. The renewables revolution is a very big wave in the distance, and more and more people are lining up to catch it. I’m not a trader — I’m a long-term investor. And this article is written to help people who are looking to invest, not to trade.
We are now at the point where individuals and companies can invest directly in renewable energy projects, even in small amounts. …….http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/how-to-invest-in-renewables
High time to face up to the nuclear war threat
It is time for concrete actions that President Obama can promptly take:
• Remove Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles from high alert which would decrease risk of accidental firing.
• Provide leadership at the second Humanitarian Impacts conference Feb. 14-15 in Mexico. The United States was unrepresented at the first conference. We must not abdicate responsibility.
• Dramatically reduce spending requests for new missiles, bombers and submarines in next year’s budget.
• Seek an agreement with Russia for reductions in nuclear weapons beyond the New START agreement.
• Propose a UN Security Council resolution banning nuclear weapon tests worldwide.
• Declare a “no first strike” policy.
We know what nuclear weapons can do. It is time to act.
Terrence Clark, MD is a psychiatrist. He is the chairperson of the Western North Carolina Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. The new PSR Report “Nuclear Famine: 2 Billion People at Risk?” is available as a PDF from www.psr.org http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20140208/OPINION03/302080004?odyssey=mod%7Cmostcom
Diplomatic step forward, as Iran opens more nuclear sites for inspection
| Iran offers more nuclear sites for inspection, Aljazeera, 9 Feb 14 |
| IAEA says Iran agreed to implement seven specific steps concerning its nuclear programme by May 15. Iran has agreed to an inspection of the Saghand uranium mine, as part of a seven-step plan with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ease international fears about its nuclear programme.
The IAEA also announced on Sunday that Tehran was ready to “provide information and explanations” for experiments in a type of detonator that the agency said could be used to trigger a nuclear explosion, according to Associated Press news agency. The agency said in a statement that there had been “constructive technical meetings” within a framework that was agreed last November, according to Reuters news agency…… Sunday’s announcement would be a potentially significant step forward, as the investigation into suspected atomic bomb research has been deadlocked for years because of what the West sees as Iran’s stonewalling of the IAEA. It could also send a positive signal to separate negotiations between Iran and six world powers, due to start on February 18, that are aimed at reaching a broader diplomatic settlement of the decade-old nuclear dispute…….http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/iran-offers-more-nuclear-sites-inspection-20142915171859936.html |
Latest Twitter Trollisms
Thyroid cancer diagnosed in 75 Fukushima children
75 children have now been diagnosed with thyroid cancers. 福島県、こどもの甲状腺がん75名に Evacuate Fukushima BY NELSON311 ⋅ FEBRUARY 8, 2014 In September 2012, the first case of thyroid cancer was diagnosed in a child out of 38 000 children.
By September 2013, the number increase by 58 cases including 26 confirmed.
By February 2014, a whooping 75 children out of roughly 270 000 are either confirmed or suspected to have contracted the disease. We all know what that means; Those not confirmed WILL soon be confirmed and will be tag up to the exciting numbers by the next survey (probably around May 2014).
NOTE; More than 100 000 children have yet to participate in the survey
The sociopaths in charge are still denying this is not related to the ongoing nuclear crisis…….http://evacuatefukushimanow.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/ .http://evacuatefukushimanow.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/breaking-news-75-children-have-now-being-diagnosed-with-thyroid-cancers-
Ice wall – the only hope to keep Fukushima’s nuclear reactors safe?
My question – Is this ice wall supposed to last for thousands of years? Through winters and summers? How much electricity needed to keep it going? How much will it cost?
Critics say Fukushima is a stark reminder that there are safety issues still outstanding for the nuclear industry and the consequences of these disasters have not been properly addressed.
SUPER-COOL PLAN TO STOP JAPAN’S RADIATION Fukushima nuclear plant gets frozen treatment, WND 6 Feb 14 STEVE ELWARTV A construction project is being launched at Japan’s imploded Fukushima nuclear power plant, which melted down after an offshore undersea earthquake and the resulting tsunami three years ago, to try to limit the release of immense amounts of radiation.vOfficials already had announced plans for a $300 million project to build an almost mile-long subterranean ice wall around the complex, which is hoped to have the effect of halting the drainage of contaminated water from the plant site.
Construction is scheduled by Tokyo Electric Power Company, the Japanese utility that owns the failed site, to begin on the complicated system within days.
It was September of last year when the Japanese government released plans for an underground wall based on technology first tested in the 1990s at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with encouraging results…….
“It’s just sometimes it’s the only scenario that will really work,” said Sopko. “When nothing else will work, it just jumps out at you and says, ‘Wow, it’s a freeze job.’”
To build the wall, 1,073 pipes will be sunk about three feet apart into the ground to a waterproof rock layer (a depth of about 90 feet). The pipes will then be filled with brine (concentrated salt water) and circulated through the pipes. Using 14 400 kW refrigerating units, the brine will be cooled to -40 degrees Fahrenheit, which will freeze the ground around the pipes……..
Critics say Fukushima is a stark reminder that there are safety issues still outstanding for the nuclear industry and the consequences of these disasters have not been properly addressed.
In the U.S., politicians are starting to turn up the heat on regulatory agencies to submit plans to prevent a Fukushima-like incident from occurring in the United States.
One year after calling on regulators to issue a progress report on their efforts to implement a range of safety measures identified in the aftermath of 2011 calamity, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., renewed her call for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, to speed up its review of nuclear plant vulnerabilities to seismic activity both in her home state and across the western part of the United States.
To date, the NRC has taken nearly three years to assess the risks and has stated that it may take an additional three years to complete the process.
“This is an unacceptable delay – earthquakes will not wait until after the paperwork has been completed,” she said during opening remarks at a hearing on the issue.
Boxer is the chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
She warned that it will be another three years at least before some 60,000 Fukushima-area residents can return to their homes. There are other complications……..http://www.wnd.com/2014/02/super-cool-plan-to-save-japan-from-radiation/
Fukushima groundwater radiation 1000 times more than claimed by TEPCO
Record-high 10 Million Bq/liter of strontium-90 & beta emitters finally revealed in Fukushima plant groundwater — 1,000% more than Tepco has claimed for last 6 months http://enenews.com/record-high-10-million-bqliter-of-strontium-90-beta-emitters-finally-revealed-in-fukushima-plant-groundwater-1000-greater-than-what-tepco-claimed-for-last-6-months
Jiji Press, Feb. 6, 2014: TEPCO Corrects Last Summer’s Water Pollution Data to Record High […] Samples collected from an observation well close to the sea in early July contained a record 5 million becquerels of strontium-90 per liter of groundwater, the company said. When TEPCO announced the original data that month, the firm said the total amount of radioactive materials emitting beta particles, including strontium-90, was 900,000 becquerels […] the total amount of beta particle-emitting materials […] are likely to be around 10 million becquerels, far higher than the previous record high of 3.1 million becquerels for the well.
Kyodo News,, Feb. 6, 2014: Record-high strontium-90 in past Fukushima plant groundwater sample — [TEPCO] said Thursday that a groundwater sample taken from a well at the site in July last year contained a record-high 5 million becquerels per liter of radioactive strontium-90.[…] TEPCO official said that “all beta radiation could have been 10 million becquerels in total.”
See also: Highest Yet: Radiation level hits new record in Fukushima groundwater well — Over 3,000,000 Bq/liter of strontium and beta emitters
Nuclear power as an issue in Tokyo’s governor election
Tokyo governor’s race puts nuclear power to electoral test, Aljazeera by E. Tammy Kim @etammykim February 7, 2014 High-profile candidates challenge front-runner’s support for restarting nuclear plants and for PM Abe’s national agenda As Tokyo prepares to elect its next governor on Feb. 9 — a vote occasioned by a resignation mired in corruption — more than local politics is at stake. The race has become something of a referendum on key national policies, including nuclear power, social services for a ballooning senior population and current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s attack on Japan’s post–World War II “peace constitution.” There are four main candidates: Hosokawa; progressive human-rights lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya; former Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Yoichi Masuzoe, Abe’s preferred man and, until last week, the clear leader in most opinion polls; and Toshio Tamogami, the ultra-nationalistic hawk who once led the Japanese air force…….
An anti-nuclear Tokyo governor, while lacking a controlling stake in TEPCO, could join other shareholders to oppose restarting the nuclear power plants. In theory, the city could also change its energy supplier from TEPCO to another utility.
So far, nuclear worries lag behind economic concerns for most Tokyo voters…….
, three of the four top contenders — including Masuzoe — made a point of opposing nuclear energy at least in the long term, though specific alternatives remain elusive.
With so many candidates making anti-nuclear vows, advocates who had hoped for a unified endorsement worry about splitting their votes. “We had asked the (anti-nuclear) candidates to consolidate, but unfortunately that was rejected,” said Hajime Matsukubo, international liaison for the Tokyo-based Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center.
“Now we hope that any anti-nukes candidate will win the election.” http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/7/in-tokyo-electionreferendumonnuclearpowerandnationalpolicies.html
Hawaii Senators push for radiation monitoring. – concerned about Fukushima effects
VIDEO: Concerns in Hawaii over Fukushima radiation, Big Island Video News, 7 Feb 14, “……..While the Fukushima Kids Hawaii Project does a lot of work for those living in the nuclear shadow of Fukushima, Kikuchi and Morita are also concerned about the effects of radiation here in Hawaii. Thats why they support a bill in the state legislature that would call for monitoring around Hawaii.
State Senators Josh Green and Russel Ruderman have introduced SB3049 which requires the Dept Of Health to implement a pilot project to monitor radiation levels over the next five years and to post periodic reports on its website.
According to the bill, the Department of Health shall:
(1) Measure and monitor radiation levels in items such as food, dairy products, rainwater, aquifers, and drainage ditches that may be susceptible to increased radiation levels due to the March 11, 2011, Fukushima nuclear disaster; and
(2) Post periodic reports on the department’s website of those radiation levels and their significance to the State.http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2014/02/06/video-concerns-in-hawaii-over-fukushima-radiation/#sthash.ACrSOsao.dpuf
Fukushima evacuees not eligible to vote in Tokyo elections
Election’s nuclear focus draws mixed emotions from Fukushima evacuees Kyodo News International February 6, 2014 Evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture, relocated to the nation’s capital region following the 2011 nuclear crisis, will be among those closely following Sunday’s Tokyo gubernatorial election, with some voicing mixed feelings about the focus on nuclear power as an election issue.
“For evacuees, doing away with nuclear power is something that is taken for granted,” said Megumi Okada, a 31-year-old homemaker who moved out of Fukushima City.
“I wonder if (candidates) squarely face up to the suffering and sorrow of those who were directly affected.”…..
Many other evacuees have left their resident registration unchanged in Fukushima and thus remain ineligible to vote in Tokyo.
They include Yoko Kanno, 72, one of the Fukushima evacuees who live in Shinonome Jutaku, a 36-story housing for government workers in Tokyo’s Koto Ward…..tinyurl.com/mddgmou
South Korea faces more nuclear plant shutdowns, as it investigates corruption by foreign companies
South Korea to widen safety probe on certificates for nuclear reactor parts, BY MEEYOUNG CHO
SEOUL Fri Feb 7, 2014 (Reuters) – South Korea’s nuclear watchdog said on Friday it will expand its investigation of reactor parts manufactured or certified by foreign companies since 2008 to see if it can find more instances of forged safety certificates.
The broadened investigation may require parts replacement at some reactors via extended maintenance shutdowns that could trigger power shortages again this summer.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy has been striving to avoid blackouts during peak demand seasons ever since the discovery of locally forged safety certificates for replacement parts kicked off a nuclear scandal in late 2012. The scandal sparked an investigation of locally produced parts in January of last year that was broadened to some foreign produced parts in June……
The expanded investigation is likely to lead to extended shutdowns for two nuclear plant that are already offline for scheduled maintenance. The statement said the restart of those reactors would be delayed until they are proved to have no foreign or local components with fake certificates …………..http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/07/us-nuclear-korea-idUSBREA160C820140207
1 This Month
26 April – Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown airs on National Geographic on Sunday 26th April from 4pm
29 April – Nuclear Expert Webinar #1 – Radiation Impacts on Families with Mary Olson and Cindy Folkers
- 12:15 PM MT – 1:45 PM MT
- Location: Virtual – REGISTER TODAY
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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