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Avoiding Atomic Armageddon: Why we should not rejoin the nuclear bazaar

A Nuclear Colloquy: Lowry and Ford on “The Nuclear Bazaar”, New Paradigms Forum

Note:

Dr. David Lowry is an independent research policy consultant specializing in nuclear issues, working with politicians, NGOs and the media.  He is a former director of the European Proliferation Information Centre [EPIC] in London.   His text below, which he recently submitted to NPF, is the written version of his presentation to a workshop on “Challenging NPT-backed Nuclear Power Expansion” at the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) annual conference in London on October 9, 2010.

Avoiding Atomic Armageddon:

Why we should not rejoin the nuclear bazaar

by Dr. David Lowry

The venerable veteran Labour politician, Tony Benn, who once was responsible for the British nuclear power programme when he was Technology Minister in the late 1960s, when recently asked  by The Times if he had made any  political mistakes in his life, responded:

“Yes, nuclear power: I was told it was, when I was in charge of it, that atomic energy was cheap, safe and peaceful.  It isn’t.” (Times Magazine, 11 September 2010) Continue reading →

March 16, 2014 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Japan could be a leader in energy efficiency and clean, non nuclear, energy

In one global survey of energy efficiency, Japan still ranked fourth, behind the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. Just think if it ranked first……

In the decades since the war, Japan has repeatedly demonstrated its technological genius, from Fujitsu supercomputers and Sony televisions to Nintendo consoles and Toyota hybrids. If it applied that creativity and drive to achieving sustainable, smart energy self-sufficiency, it could turn the disaster of Fukushima into a catalyst for global greatness, and all but win the future.

Japan should make disaster the mother of invention,Japan Times, BY JAMES GIBNEY BLOOMBERG, 15 Mar 14,  “….Abe’s pro-nuke leanings — the original language of his 2014 plan actually had to be toned down — seem shortsighted, dangerous and even politically unwise. It’s not as if Japan’s seismic activity has slackened, and several of its reactors sit on or near faults. Although Japan has revamped its nuclear regulatory apparatus, its “nuclear village” — a collusive nexus of politicians, bureaucrats and nuclear executives — remains largely intact.

As reactors come up for reauthorization, it’s not clear that the new Nuclear RegulationAuthority will have the spine or resources to put the public interest ahead of political pressure, especially when it comes from the top.

Not only did a recent poll show that 69 percent of respondents wanted nuclear power phased out, but six former prime ministers — including ex-nuclear champion Yasuhiro Nakasone and Abe’s mentor Junichiro Koizumi — have given it the big thumbs down. After three years, Japanese consumers can also see that life without nuclear power is hardly impossible, and it doesn’t come with blackouts. Continue reading →

March 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Enormous amounts of radioactive wastes in Arctic seas

Russia announces enormous finds of radioactive waste and nuclear reactors in Arctic seas, Bellona,  Enormous quantities of decommissioned Russian nuclear reactors and radioactive waste were dumped into the Kara Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia over a course of decades, according to documents given to Norwegian officials by Russian authorities and published in Norwegian media. Bellona had received in 2011 a draft of a similar report prepared for Russia’s Gossoviet, the State Council, for presentation at a meeting presided over by then-president Dmitry Medvedev on Russian environmental security.

The Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom confirmed the figures in February of this year during a seminar it jointly held with Bellona in Moscow.

Bellona is alarmed by the extent of the dumped Soviet waste, which is far greater than was previously known – not only to Bellona, but also to the Russian authorities themselves…….http://bellona.org/news/uncategorized/2012-08-russia-announces-enormous-finds-of-radioactive-waste-and-nuclear-reactors-in-arctic-seas

March 16, 2014 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Alaska law-makers concerned about Fukushima rasdiation

Fairbanks city council unanimously passes Fukushima monitoring resolution: Alaska and west coast of N. America in danger — “No safe levels of radiation… constitutes grave risk” — Alaska Senator: “We need to be vigilant” (AUDIO) http://enenews.com/fairbanks-city-council-passes-resolution-for-fukushima-monitoring-alaska-and-u-s-west-coast-in-danger-no-safe-levels-of-radiation-constitutes-grave-risk-alaska-senator-we-need-to-be?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Mar. 10, 2014 (h/t Anonymous tip): Council to ask for more radiation testing […] [Fairbanks city] council will consider a resolution tonight that calls on the federal government and United Nations to do more radiation testing in Alaska waters. It asserts that health risks related to nuclear meltdown have been vastly understated […] Continue reading →

March 16, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Interactive map shows how far you live from a nuclear reactor

see-this.wayA new interactive map tells you exactly how far you live from a nuclear reactor By Joseph Stromberg smithsonianmag.com  March 13, 2014 “………Currently, if a radiological emergency occurs, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommends that anyone living within 10 miles of a plant to tune in to their local radio or television Emergency Alert System and heed the instructions from state or local officials. The commission also suggests that anyone within 50 miles to take action to protect local food and water supplies. Recently, some have have argued that the evacuation zone should be extended this far as well—and in 2011, after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, authorities from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommended that Americans living within 50 miles of the plant to evacuate……..

Seeing all the plants laid out on a national map also conveys an interesting point. Because most electricity use is in cities, a nuclear plant (unlike wind or solar) can be built pretty much anywhere, and transmitting electricity over great distances causes some of the energy to be lost to friction, most of the plants are logically located near large urban areas. For better or worse, of the country’s biggest 20 metro areas by population, at least part of 14 of them lies within 50 miles of a nuclear plant. Overall, about a third of Americans live within one of the 50-mile radiuses. If you’re reading this article somewhere in the U.S., there’s a good chance that a nuclear plant is relatively closeby.http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/do-you-live-within-50-miles-nuclear-power-plant-180950072/?no-ist

March 16, 2014 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Sloppy safety at New Mexico nuclear facility!

safety-symbol-SmFlag-USAFed report slams safety lapses at New Mexico nuclear facility LA Times, By Joseph Serna March 15, 2014,  Workers at a New Mexico nuclear waste storage facility that suffered an underground fire and radiation leak last month lack adequate safety training, oversight or a proper response plan for emergencies, a federal investigation has found.

In a report released Friday, Energy Department investigators faulted employees at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, near Carlsbad, for failing to maintain equipment and failing to correct procedures regulators have faulted before — issues that became apparent when a truck caught fire Feb. 5 followed by a radiation leak Feb. 14……..

WIPP’s continued closure could create a backup of defense nuclear waste. A federal treatment plant in Idaho and a laboratory in the San Francisco Bay Area both send their waste to the 2,150-foot-deep repository.

Steve Pearce, a Republican congressman who represents the New Mexico district that houses WIPP, said he expected the plant to address the shortcomings pointed out in the report.

“This transparent report highlights the sloppy procedures that caused the fire,” Pearce said in a statement. “New Mexicans expect and deserve to know the full truth. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, but it must never happen again.” http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-nuclear-safety-new-mexico-20140315,0,3056041.story

March 16, 2014 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

With 5 Million Tons of uranium waste to clean up, Colorado Mining Corp. Spills more

exclamation-Colorado Mining Corp. Spills 20,000 Gallons Of Uranium Waste Amid Negotiations To Clean Up 15 Million Tons More Opposing Views,  By Sarah Fruchtnicht, Sat, March 15, 2014

A broken pipe at a dismantled Colorado mill spilled 20,000 gallons of uranium waste just as the corporate owner is negotiating with state and federal authorities to clean up another 15 million tons of radioactive uranium tailings.

The Colorado mining and milling corporation Cotter Corp. is working with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to negotiate one of the nation’s longest-running cleanups in history. The agencies are expected to help Cotter clean up, gather data, and figure out what to do with 15 million tons of radioactive uranium tailings.

They could remove the tailings, which would cost more than $895 million, or bury the waste.

In the meantime, a 6-inch plastic pipe, part of a 30-year-old system on Cotter’s 2,538-acre property in Canon City, broke and spewed 20,000 gallons of uranium-laced waste………

A community group, Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste, is pressing Cotter and the state for more facts about the spills and cleanup operations.

Energy Minerals Law Center attorney Travis Stills says the public deserves to know more.

“There’s an official, decades-old indifference to groundwater protection and cleanup of groundwater contamination at the Cotter site — even though sustainable and clean groundwater for drinking, orchards, gardens and livestock remains important to present and future Lincoln Park residents,” Stills said. “This community is profoundly committed to reclaiming and protecting its groundwater.” http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/environment/colorado-mining-corp-spills-20000-gallons-uranium-waste-amid-negotiations

March 16, 2014 Posted by | Uranium, wastes | Leave a comment

Unfolding, continuing crisis at Fukushima

see-this.wayNuclear crisis at Fukushima continues to unfold: a trilogy of reports by PBS NewsHour’s Miles O’Brien (video) http://boingboing.net/2014/03/14/nuclear-crisis-at-fukushima-co.htmlNext, “Fishing for data in the radioactive waters off Fukushima.”

With help from fisherman and citizen scientists, researchers in Japan and the U.S. are tracking the nucleotides in the ocean creatures who swim in the plume of water tainted with radiation from Fukushima. Their research is part of a long-term effort to figure out when — if ever — certain fish will be safe to eat.

 at 1:45 pm Fri, Mar 14, 2014 Miles O’Brien, science correspondent for PBS NewsHour, has produced a series of three must-see investigative reports revisiting the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan. His stories explore how the radiation leaks triggered by the earthquake and tsunami are continuing to affect life there, and beyond.

First, above, “Fukushima nuclear crisis continues to unfold.”

The site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan remains a post-apocalyptic landscape of abandoned towns, frozen in time. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien got a rare tour inside the plant, where three nuclear reactors melted down after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, to learn more about the long-term solutions for stemming the radioactive contamination.

Next, “Fishing for data in the radioactive waters off Fukushima.”

With help from fisherman and citizen scientists, researchers in Japan and the U.S. are tracking the nucleotides in the ocean creatures who swim in the plume of water tainted with radiation from Fukushima. Their research is part of a long-term effort to figure out when — if ever — certain fish will be safe to eat.

March 16, 2014 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

VIDEO: toxic legacy of uranium mining on Indigenous Land

see-this.wayVideo “A Slow Genocide of the People”: Uranium Mining Leaves Toxic Nuclear Legacy on Indigenous Land Democracy Now Friday March 14, 2014 The iconic Grand Canyon is the site of a battle over toxic uranium mining. Last year, a company called Energy Fuels Resources was given federal approval to reopen a mine six miles from the Grand Canyon’s popular South Rim entrance. A coalition of Native and environmental groups have protested the decision, saying uranium mining could strain scarce water sources and pose serious health effects. Diné (Navajo) tribal lands are littered with abandoned uranium mines. From 1944 to 1986, 3.9 million tons of uranium ore were chiseled and blasted from the mountains and plains of the region. More than 1,000 mines have closed, but the mining companies never properly disposed of their radioactive waste piles, leading to a spike in cancer rates and other health ailments.

Broadcasting from Flagstaff, Arizona, we speak with Taylor McKinnon, director of energy with Grand Canyon Trust, and Klee Benally, a Diné (Navajo) activist and musician. “It’s really a slow genocide of the people, not just indigenous people of this region, but it’s estimated that there are over 10 million people who are residing within 50 miles of abandoned uranium mines,” Benally says. Benally also describes the struggle to preserve the San Francisco Peaks, an area considered sacred by 13 Native tribes, where the Snowbowl ski resort is using treated sewage water to make snow.

March 16, 2014 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Nuclear power a danger to Orgeon

 Nuclear power advocates, ‘cease and desist’ in light of dangers http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letter-nuclear-power-advocates-cease-and-desist-in-light-of/article_506a4674-ab45-11e3-8229-0019bb2963f4.htmlMy Kirk Nevin, Corvallis, 15 Mar  14 My  impression, gained from talking to a fair number of my fellow Corvallis citizens, is that very few Oregonians think nuclear power has a future in our beautiful state.

For those who still harbor thoughts of producing electricity with nuclear facilities, I suggest you read the March 12 editorial on page A24 of the New York Times, “Fukushima’s Continuing Tragedy.”

The continuing tragedy is, of course, a reference to “the third anniversary of the triple disaster that struck eastern Japanese prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima: the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear plant meltdowns in Fukushima.” The events killed almost 16,000 people, with many more still missing.

Oregon has an uncanny similarity to the Japanese area affected, with the same potential for earthquakes, tsunamis, and the inevitable nuclear meltdown.Message to the folks who are continuing to promote nuclear power in Oregon: Please cease and desist. You have no right to subject us to such a potential scenario of destruction and devastation in Corvallis. This is our home.

 

 

March 16, 2014 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

A big mistake to resurrect global nuclear technology

A Nuclear Colloquy: Lowry and Ford on “The Nuclear Bazaar”, New Paradigms Forum

Note:

Dr. David Lowry is an independent research policy consultant specializing in nuclear issues, working with politicians, NGOs and the media.  He is a former director of the European Proliferation Information Centre [EPIC] in London.   His text below, which he recently submitted to NPF, is the written version of his presentation to a workshop on “Challenging NPT-backed Nuclear Power Expansion” at the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) annual conference in London on October 9, 2010.

Avoiding Atomic Armageddon:

Why we should not rejoin the nuclear bazaar

by Dr. David Lowry

The venerable veteran Labour politician, Tony Benn, who once was responsible for the British nuclear power programme when he was Technology Minister in the late 1960s, when recently asked  by The Times if he had made any  political mistakes in his life, responded:

“Yes, nuclear power: I was told it was, when I was in charge of it, that atomic energy was cheap, safe and peaceful.  It isn’t.” (Times Magazine, 11 September 2010) Continue reading →

March 16, 2014 Posted by | general | 1 Comment