28,500 Taiwanese anti-nuclear demonstrators met with water cannons
Taiwan uses water cannon to disperse anti-nuclear protesters The West Australian, 28 April 14, Taipei (AFP) – Taiwan police on Monday used water cannon to dislodge hundreds of demonstrators blocking a main road in the capital to demand the scrapping of a controversial nuclear power plant.
An estimated 28,500 anti-nuclear demonstrators had blockaded one of Taipei’s busiest streets Sunday, forcing the ruling Kuomintang party to yield and halt construction work at the nearly completed plant.
The concession prompted many demonstrators to leave but hundreds remained, causing police to use water cannon to disperse them on Monday morning…….
A Kuomintang spokesman announced Sunday there would be no further work on this reactor. After safety checks, it would be sealed.
“Construction of reactor two will be terminated,” the spokesman said. “In the future, any such commercial operation will be decided by a referendum.”
The government has already offered to hold a referendum on the future of the power plant, but opponents say the vote’s proposed terms would be too restrictive.
Protest organisers said they would keep watching to see if the government fulfils its promises……..
Like Japan, Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes. In September 1999 a 7.6-magnitude quake killed around 2,400 people in the island’s deadliest natural disaster in recent history……https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/world/a/23032473/taiwan-uses-water-cannon-to-disperse-anti-nuclear-protesters/
Investment analysts point to the opportunities in solar power
Solar Power on the Rise The Motley Fool, By Stephen O’Brien April 28, 2014 “…..The obvious solution is to substitute these fossil fuels with solar power. While the technology to harness the sun’s energy is perpetually being upgraded and refined, solar power is gradually becoming the most attractive choice for many consumers to power their homes, and not only for environmental reasons, but often for the lower costs solar energy is affording.
The corporate sector has also begun to see solar’s advantages. IKEA has committed to becoming a zero-energy company 2020, and has allotted $2 billion for a number of renewable energy endeavors. It has already installed more than 550,000 solar panels. The company is additionally involved in wind energy, and has established a wind farm about a hundred miles south of Chicago and other wind projects in eight countries. In 2013, renewable energy sources accounted for close to 40% of IKEA’s energy usage.
Aside from such moves by a few of the larger corporations, demand for solar power has been increasing significantly in the U.S. residential market. SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR ) , a U.S. firm headquartered in San Jose, California, has been leasing its solar-panel systems to over 20,000 U.S. customers.
Demand for solar power around the world is also increasing rapidly. SunPower has offices in Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia to meet the growing cries for sun-generated energy. SunPower recently announced that it has begun selling megawatts of cell packages in inner Mongolia, and plans further moves to serve companies and consumers in China.It will have to contend, however, with the Chinese companies that currently serve the Chinese market, the leaders being Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL ) and JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS ) .
Solar companies are in their early stages of development, and it is unclear who will become the dominant player a few years from now. Currently, there seems to be plenty of growth ahead for a number of solar companies. SunPower is said to have an advantage in that its solar panels are smaller in size and convert energy efficiently, making them well suited for rooftop installations.
Brean Capital recently initiated coverage on the company’s shares and rated them as a buy. SunPower’s stock currently has a forward price to earnings ratio of under 20, and its five-year growth rate in earnings per share looks to be over 30%, making the stock highly attractive to a longer-term investor who don’t mind price volatility. This company is clearly worth considering when investing in the solar sector, and in clean energy generally.
As the world shifts to solar power due to its increasingly cheaper cost or to ward off environmental catastrophe in the years ahead, a great investment opportunity has presented itself. While there certainly are strong competitors to SunPower, there is also a vast market for solar energy, and SunPower is poised to flourish……http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/28/solar-power-on-the-rise.aspx
Shutting down nuclear power – a process already on the way
U.S. expects about 10 pct of nuclear capacity to shut by 2020 HOUSTON, April 28 Tue Apr 29, 2014 (Reuters) – Lower natural gas prices and stagnant growth in electric demand will lead to the loss of 10,800 megawatts of U.S. nuclear generation, or around 10 percent of total capacity, by the end of the decade, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a report issued on Monday.
About 6,000 MW of nuclear capacity will shut by 2020 in addition to six reactors totaling 4,800 MW that have already shut or plan to shut in that time period, the EIA said in its 2014 annual electric output study.
“Retirements often are the result of unique circumstances, but some owners of nuclear power plants have voiced concerns about the profitability of their units,” the EIA said in its report.
Lower natural gas prices that have pared wholesale power prices will hurt profitability for nuclear units and some high-cost reactors will shut as economic challenges mount, the EIA said.
“When faced with declining profitability, plant owners may choose to retire their units rather than make additional investments to keep them operating,” the report said…….
In its 2013 report, the EIA projected only 7,700 MW, or about 7 percent, of nuclear capacity would retire by 2040. The report did not mention the number of units that are likely shut after operating for 60 years after 2029. http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/04/28/utilities-nuclear-eia-idINL2N0NK23D20140428
Report on “A treaty banning nuclear weapons“
A treaty banning nuclear weapons http://www.article36.org/nuclear-weapons/a-treaty-banning-nuclear-weapons/ April 28, 2014
Ahead of the 2014 NPT Preparatory Committee, Article 36 and Reaching Critical Will have published a joint report entitled “A treaty banning nuclear weapons“. The paper explores the development of a legal framework for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons.
Despite the growing recognition of the risk of a nuclear weapons detonation, nuclear-armed states and those in military alliances with them continue to rely upon and invest in nuclear weapons. However, the renewed focus on the humantiarian consequences of nuclear weapons has opened space for consideration of the most appropriate political and legal responses to the existence of nuclear weapons.
The ban treaty approach discussed in this paper can bridge the gap between long-held aspirations for nuclear disarmament and the seemingly intractable legal and political landscape that exists today.A new legal instrument could provide a framework for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons. While participation of all states would be welcomed, such a treaty could be developed even without the participation of the nuclear-armed states and would still have significant impact in both normative as well as well practical terms.
The paper looks at possible principles and provisions of such a framework; how it could be accomplished; and its potential normative and practical impacts.
Published in April 2014 by Article 36 and Reaching Critical Will
Written by Ray Acheson, Thomas Nash, and Richard Moyes
Secretive TPP distrusted by both Left and Right – says Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader on TPP, GM Recall, Nuclear Power & the “Unstoppable” Left-Right Anti-Corporate Movement, Democracy Now, 28 April 14 Former presidential candidate and longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader joins us to discuss his latest book, “Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State.” Nader highlights the common concerns shared by a wide swath of the American public, regardless of political orientation, including mass government surveillance, opposing nebulous free trade agreements, reforming the criminal justice system, and punishing criminal behavior on Wall Street. Nader also discusses the U.S. push for the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, General Motors’ new bid to escape liability for its deadly ignition defect, the revived nuclear era under President Obama, and challenging U.S. militarism through the defense budget.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form
AMY GOODMAN “……….Now, he’s out with a new book; it is called Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State. It highlights the common concerns shared by a wide swath of the American public, regardless of political orientation. These concerns include resisting mass surveillance, opposing nebulous free trade agreements, and punishing criminal behavior on Wall Street. Throughout, Ralph Nader argues in favor of transcending divisive partisan labels and instead working in concert to pursue shared interests, all the while offering practical solutions rooted in collective organizing………
AMY GOODMAN: Ralph Nader, I want to go to this global issue of the TPP, because over the weekend President Obama spoke to young leaders during this town hall-style meeting at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His talk was briefly disrupted by peaceful protesters holding up signs denouncing a sweeping new trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership—the TPPoften referred to by critics as NAFTA on steroids, as you were talking about, establishing a free-trade zone that would stretch from Vietnam to Chile, encompass 800 million people, about a third of world trade, nearly 40 percent of the global economy. Obama defended the TPP………
AMY GOODMAN: That’s President Obama in Malaysia. Who is advising President Obama on TPP? The unions? Environmental organizations? Ralph Nader.
RALPH NADER: Well, they can’t get back through the secrecy of these negotiations in these drafts. As Lori Wallach of Global Trade Watch has pointed out repeatedly, even members of Congress couldn’t get the draft negotiations from the TPP, although the corporate lobbyists have access to these drafts. But it’s quite clear that the TPP is nothing more than an extension of NAFTA and the World Trade Organization on steroids.
And here’s where we have a left-right alliance, each one with their reason. On the left, they’re opposed to these agreements because they’re bad for workers; they’re bad for the price of medicines being affordable, under the intellectual property rules that are being negotiated; they’re bad for open government; and they’re bad for the environment. On the right, they don’t like these trade agreements because they shred our sovereignty. I happen to agree with that, too. All international treaties reduce sovereignties, by definition. But this one, these trade agreements are the greatest usurpers of local, state and national sovereignty in American history. And so, we have this growing alliance. And, by the way, it goes back to documents like the 2002 Texas Republican state platform, that was dead set against these trade agreements on sovereignty issues……..http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/28/ralph_nader_on_tpp_gm_recall
Collapse of uranium prices forces mining companies to stockpile uranium
Mining companies stockpile uranium near Grand Canyon Mining.Com Cecilia Jamasmie | April 28, 2014 Faced with dropping uranium prices, US mining companies close to the Grand Canyon have begun storing their output as they wait for prices to recover, which has environmentalists up in arms over potential radioactive contamination…….
“The cumulative effects of uranium ore on [nearby waterways] were not anticipated by the original federal environmental review, which really needs to be redone,” he was quoted as saying.
Controversy around Energy Fuels’ project sparked in April last year, after the company announced it was going ahead with its Canyon Mine despite a 20-year ban on new uranium mining claims, passed by the Obama administration in 2012, which applies to the a 1 million-acre area around the park.
The company has clarified the ruling doesn’t affect its plans, as it obtained the rights for it almost two decades ago.
What does affect the company’s plans is the current price of uranium, which has dropped about 25% so far this year…..http://www.mining.com/mining-companies-stockpile-uranium-near-grand-canyon-64493/
The aftermath of Fukushima nuclear accident – worse than a war zone
“People in Fukushima look calm but are more depressed, accepting their situation,” Nahr was quoted as saying during an interview in Tokyo.
The Swiss-born photographer, who grew up in Hong King, added that people in Japan are still reluctant to discuss the Fukushima disaster even three years after the incident. He recollects how shocked he was to see the destruction in the areas surrounding the nuclear power plant and thousands of evacuees forced to leave their homes and belongings in 2011.
“Everything looked calm on the surface, but you could see fear in their faces,” Nahr said.
The photographer, who continued to return to Fukushima despite the radiation contamination, claims the pursuit of money and superiority in the country’s energy sector led Japan to the disaster.
‘photoswitches,’ – a coming breakthrough in solar energy?
Scientists Discover How to Generate Solar Power in the Dark Meet ‘photoswitches,’ a breakthrough set of materials that act as their own batteries, absorbing energy and releasing it on demand. THE ATLANTIC, TODD WOODYAPR 15 2014, The next big thing in solar energy could be microscopic.
Scientists at MIT and Harvard University have devised a way to store solar energy in molecules that can then be tapped to heat homes, water or used for cooking.
The best part: The molecules can store the heat forever and be endlessly re-used while emitting absolutely no greenhouse gases. Scientists remain a way’s off in building this perpetual heat machine but they have succeeded in the laboratory at demonstrating the viability of the phenomenon called photoswitching……….
“One design we have for such an application is purely gravity driven – the material flows from one tank to another. The flow rate is restricted so that it’s exposed to the sun long enough that it gets fully charged. Then, when it’s time to cook dinner, after the sun is down, the flow direction is reversed, again driven by gravity, and the opposite side of the setup is used as the cooking surface.”
“As the material flows back to the first tank, it passes by an immobilized catalyst which triggers the energy-releasing process, heating the cooking surface up,” he adds.
Other versions of such device could be used to heat buildings.
Kucharski said the MIT and Harvard team is now investigating other photoswitching molecules and substrates, “with the aim of designing a system that absorbs more of the sun’s energy and also can be more practically scaled up.” http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/04/scientists-discover-how-to-generate-solar-power-in-the-dark/360679/
Last ditch effort for uranium mining
Talvivaara wants uranium license, but needs to avoid bankruptcy first http://www.mining.com/talvivaara-wants-uranium-license-but-needs-to-avoid-bankruptcy-first-67426/ Cecilia Jamasmie | April 28, 2014 Finnish nickel miner Talvivaara (LON:TALV), which is seeking permission to begin uranium operations in the eastern region of Sotkamo, has made last-minute changes to its application as it no longer considers the project a priority.
The company, struggling to avoid bankruptcy, told Yle the firm and its staff were “quite hard-pressed now,” so they didn’t want to “take on any more strain if it can be avoided.”
The cash-strapped miner, scheduled to post results on Wednesday, added it was no longer able to afford paying the guarantees required if operations were to begin.
The news caused investors to panic, with a few shareholders selling their holdings On Monday, which sent the stock price down 11.1% to 6.735p.
Talvivaara’s announcement comes on the hills of a series of radioactive leaks at its nickel mine, followed by a suspension of operations and a filing for corporate reorganization.
The firm faces a US$139,000 penalty unless it complies by mid-May.
Arclights last Stand! A plea for help!
Op Ed Arclight2011part2
Date 28 April 2014
Posted to nuclear-news.net
This is a bit odd! I have, like Mari Takenouchi and many others been on the receiving end of the UK`s NDEU squad or whoever is hacking me and forcing me to adapt to these various attacks over the last 2 years especially.
It is likely that your children will have to get used to this sort of thing but i am a bit old fashioned and thought that the west was all about democrasy, free speech and equal opportunities and I actually generally thought that until Fukushima had three meltdowns and the lives of the local people were put at risk.
The deeper I dug the more horrified I became at what was happening and what was being covered up.
So in summary, with out all the paranoid bullshit here are the facts.
I was earning over 30,00 Euros driving a motorbike when Fukushima melted down and here is the situation that got me there
I was given a social housing home with a lovely garden that I developed out of a mudball whilst I worked mainly voluntarily at numerous social projects for numerous communities and groups in London whilst i brought up my children as a single parent. The housing was given to me for my tremendous efforts in the Richmond and Kingston areas, I even submitted a report that started a voluntary group that was submitted to the government and was excepted.
I did this for about 10 years but run up debts. After my children had left home I decided to work hard and clear these debts. I paid my taxes and worked long hours and just as i had only 2 years to clear all debts i was attacked from all sides and lost my home, my job and friends were attacked.
I left the UK after the new definition of the secrets act meant that it was possible that information i had legally gleaned in the past might be made illegal retroactively from the 2nd April 2014.
It would appear that in Ireland I am safer but it has few suitable jobs and i have, today run out of money. Tomorrow I will have to leave the hotel i am living in and will become a vagrant. This means if I am caught by the Gardai I will likely be deported back to the UK where the best that will happen there is the attacks that happened before and the utter isolation that i had to deal with over this past year.
So i will make this simple plea to those who know my worth as a researcher and serious pain in the arse to corporations everywhere.
I have asked the Hotel to accept credit card payments of 35 Euros per day starting from tomorrow at 9 am GMT until 12,oo pm.
3 hours window for you guys and gals to keep me with a roof over my head, one meal a day and a wireless internet connection to maintain the blogging.
I have requested help from a number of sources and as of today I have had a negative result from all avenues of employment, legal and human rights support. my friends have given all they can as they are struggling like everyone else.
I have no bank account and only need the roof over my head to continue with harassing the nuclear corporations and their military banking friends.
In fact I think I am just getting the hang of it. I hope you agree.
The Address is
The Railway Hotel
Limerick City
Ireland
Tel: 00353 (0)61 413653
I would prefer to hook up with some like minded activists, but be warned that everyone i have been in contact with has had things happen to them.. I am that good ! And I am resigned to a life of isolation to protect others.
I have to say that I have had alot less problems now there are impartial witness`s to any undue attentions and therefore things are much better for me here in Ireland than they were in the UK..
If you are in two minds and want to know more email me at arclight2011@riseup.net
and i will fill you in. If i get loads of request I will sit down and do a public post concerning all the things i have experienced. I will do this one day anyway but would prefer to get on with some more important and constructive research.. I have things I am still researching and am awaiting data all the time at the moment. Trying to be a proper journalist where other journalists cant go because of their personal situation s. The sort of situations i had to forgo.
I really didint want to ask this as I wanted a job in limerick to pay my way like I have done over the past three years regardless of the situation i found myself in but I really have hit a brick wall now!
Peace Light and Love to you all!
Saikado Hantai!! (And I mean it!!)
Sean P McGee
Aka Arclight
Blogger
2nd UPDATE : https://nuclear-news.net/2014/04/29/arclight-finds-a-home-in-ireland-and-some-peace-in-a-crazy-world/
How to Spin a radioactive bird during Chernobyl rememberance day using Google and Sciencedaily.com
Op Ed Arclight
Dated 28 April 2014
Posted to nuclear-news.net
Concerning the article authored by Science Daily;
Chernobyl’s birds adapting to ionizing radiation
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140424223057.htm
The article begins with Summary:
“Birds in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl are adapting to — and may
even be benefiting from — long-term exposure to radiation, ecologists
have found. The study is the first evidence that wild animals adapt to
ionizing radiation, and the first to show that birds which produce most
pheomelanin, a pigment in feathers, have greatest problems coping with
radiation exposure.”
This is a fair comment from Dr Galvan also.
One could claim that the readers attention span will pick up on the
this paragraph but if they read further key words such as “We found the
opposite” in paragraph 2. Once again a fair quote to the facts.
Then “limited to humans, two bird species and one species of fish” and “Laboratory experiments have shown that humans and other animals can adapt to radiation” at the 4th paragraph.
on the 5th paragraph a quick admission of harm to humans.. but this phrase
is inserted ” this limited data”
On the 8th paragraph a very interesting comment on a new Novel way to analyse data and one that should be used in humans instead of the statistical averages used by UNSCEAR and the ICRP..
“The method focuses the analysis on individual birds instead of species averages, making it a much more sensitive way to analyze biochemical responses to radiation.
The author of the Science Daily article (not named) seemed to put the copy together in such a way as for it to give the positive aspects of the report in regard to the effects of ionising radiation whilst the more negative aspects are not clearly defined for the reader. Adding the studies briefly quoted in the main report by Galvan et al.
Also as social media catches the top of articles and many people scan quickly to get the general idea as opposed to reading the whole article thoroughly, one might get the impression that studies showing deleterious effects on humans are old whilst the new studies actually show benefit.
The negative effects on humans are mentioned briefly and there is no mention of effects that Chernobyl Children International have found on the ground and still ongoing. I also find that the article being brought out on the eve of the disaster was in bad taste but also quite clever as the google search engines that are highly filtered in countries like Ireland would pick this up instead of this;
or indeed this;
Of course these brief references (from the full report by Galvan et al.)to the new found positive effects on humans, are correct and have even been supported by Dr Chris Busby but they are taken out of context in my opinion. I contacted Tim Mousseau and he very kindly wrote back to me a clarification of the study. I tried to find Dr Ismael Galvans email and Dr Anders Moller very kindly sent it to me but not before I got Dr Timothy Mousseau`s comprehensive and clearly put reply first;
(WARNING : Creationist need to close their eyes now! )
Dear Sean
Hopefully there will be some more comprehensive coverage of this latest
paper that includes some discussion of the broader picture that includes
the context for how such “positive” responses have evolved and how they
are not unexpected given the intensity of “unnatural” selection (i.e.
Negative effects) imposed by the radioactive contaminants in the area.
Let me start by saying the Dr. Galvan is a very bright and hard working
young biologist whose scientific credentials are impeccable, in fact
beyond excellent. Through his hard work he has managed to find these novel
and potentially very important responses in natural populations that have
never been seen before. His credentials are beyond reproach in every way
and we are very grateful for his very significant contributions to this
evolving study of wildlife in Chernobyl and Fukushima. My only regret is
that we don’t have the resources to find more creative, bright, hard
working young biologists like him to help us with these studies.
Below are some quotes that I am sharing related to the current study on
adaptation that puts things into an evolutionary context:
“Our previous studies in Chernobyl show a wide array of negative
consequences of exposure to radiation for most species. However, the
species that are remaining appear to have either evolved or are
pre-adapted to the contaminants through increased allocation of
antioxidants as a defence against the radiation. Some of these birds even
show reduced levels of genetic damage in areas of intermediate
contamination perhaps reflecting an effect of acclimation to the
radiation. It remains to be shown experimentally whether all birds show
such a response, or just the ones that are surviving under these hazardous
conditions.
European Union nuclear trash now to be stored in Ukraine
Nuclear Energy Reactors: U.S. to Turn Ukraine into a “Second Chernobyl”? The Role of Westinghouse http://www.globalresearch.ca/nuclear-energy-reactors-u-s-to-turn-ukraine-into-a-second-chernobyl-the-role-of-westinghouse/5379390 By Leonid Savin Global Research, April 27, 2014 The use of US-produced fuel for Soviet reactors is not compatible with their design and violates the security requirements. It could lead to disasters comparable with what happened in Chernobyl. The International Union of Veterans of Nuclear Energy and Industry (IUVNEI) issued the following statement on April 25,
“Nuclear fuel produced by the US firm Westinghouse does not meet the technical requirements of Soviet-era reactors, and using it could cause an accident on the scale of the Chernobyl disaster, which took place on the 26th April 1986.”
The IUVNEI brings together more than 15,000 nuclear industry veterans from Armenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. It was founded in 2010 and headquartered in Moscow.
The Ukrainian state enterprise Energoatom and the Westinghouse Company previously agreed to extend the contract for the supply of US nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants until 2020.
Two years ago, there was a near-miss in Ukraine, when TVS-W with damaged distancing armatures risked substantial uncontrolled releases of dangerous radiation. Only by a miracle was there no disaster at the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant. But it did not prevent the signing of the agreement. A Czech nuclear power plant faced depressurization of the fuel elements produced by Westinghouse in 2006, followed by the Czech government abandoning the company as a fuel supplier. According to Yuri Nedashkovsky, the president of the country’s state-owned nuclear utility Energoatom, on April 23, 2014 the Ukraine’s interim government ordered to allocate 45, 2 hectares of land for the construction of a nuclear waste storage site within the depopulated exclusion area around the plant of Chernobyl between villages Staraya Krasnitsa, Buryakovka, Chistogalovka and Stechanka in Kiev Region (the Central Spent Fuel Storage Project for Ukraine’s VVER reactors). The fuel is to come from Khmelnitsky, Rovno and South Ukraine nuclear power plants.
At present used fuel is mostly transported to new dry-storage facility at the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Factory in the Krasnoyarsk region and storage and reprocessing plant Mayak in the Chelyabinsk region, the both facilities are situated on the territory of Russian Federation.In 2003 Ukraine started to look for alternatives to the Russian storages. In December 2005, Energoatom signed a 127, 75 million euro agreement with the US-based Holtec International to implement the Central Spent Fuel Storage Project for Ukraine’s VVER reactors. Holtec’s work involved design, licensing, construction, commissioning of the facility, and the supply of transport and vertical ventilated dry storage systems for used VVER nuclear fuel. By the end of 2011 Holtec International had to close its office in Kiev as it had come under harsh criticism worldwide. It is widely believed that the company has lost licenses in several countries because of poor quality of its containers resulting in radiation leaks. Westinghouse and Holtec are members of U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC).
Morgan Williams, President/CEO of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, works in Ukraine since the 1990s said at the ceremony devoted to Westinghouse Electric Company and Holtec International signing contracts with Ukraine in 2008:
“Today is one of the most important days since Ukraine’s independence as the efforts of these two internationally known companies will go a long way to assuring that Ukraine has greater energy independence. This is made more important by the fact that for Ukraine, energy and political independence are closely interdependent. I join all of the USUBC members in toasting the success of these two great member companies, as we all work to assist Ukraine on its path to Euro-Atlantic integration and a strong democratic, private market driven nationhood.”
Morgan Williams is known as a lobbyist representing the interests of Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil in Ukraine. He has close ties with Freedom House involved in staging “color revolutions” in Eurasia, North Africa and Latin America.
One more interesting detail is to be mentioned here. Some time ago it was reported that according to covert agreements reached between the Ukraine’s interim government and its European partners, the nuclear waste coming from the EU member states will be stored in Ukraine.
Being in violation of law the deal is kept secret.
Leonid Savin is an Russian expert on international conflicts, editor-in-chief of Geopolitica.ru news, analysis and forecast online journal.
Japan’s government pressuring Fukushima evacuees to return: govt wants no criticism of nuclear power
The government has declared that the stipends, which range from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,000, will end next March, when temporary housing will also begin to be closed. Villagers who move back before then will receive a $9,000 bonus from Tepco, adding to the pressure to return
the evacuees will feel increasing pressure to go back from a government that wants to restore the preaccident status quo as much as possible to limit criticism of the powerful nuclear industry.
Forced to Flee Radiation, Fearful Japanese Villagers Are Reluctant to Return NYT, By MARTIN FACKLER APRIL 27, 2014 MIYAKOJI, Japan — Ever since they were forced to evacuate during the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant three years ago, Kim Eunja and her husband have refused to return to their hilltop home amid the majestic mountains of this rural village for fear of radiation.
But now they say they may have no choice. After a nearly $250 million radiation cleanup here, the central government this month declared Miyakoji the first community within a 12-mile evacuation zone around the plant to be reopened to residents. The decision will bring an end to the monthly stipends from the plant’s operator that have allowed Ms. Kim to relocate to an apartment in a city an hour away.
“The government and the media say the radiation has been cleaned up, but it’s all lies,” said Ms. Kim, 55, who is from South Korea, and who with her Japanese husband runs a small Korean restaurant outside Miyakoji. “I want to run away, but I cannot. We have no more money.”
She is not the only one. While the central government and national news media have trumpeted the reopening of Miyakoji as a happy milestone in Japan’s recovery from the devastating March 2011 accident, many residents tell a darker story. They insist their homes remain too dangerous or too damaged to inhabit and that they have not received enough financial compensation to allow them to start anew somewhere else…….
many evacuees have been forced to live in a state of limbo since the accident, unable to leave barracks-like temporary housing, or end their dependency on Tepco for monthly stipends to live in apartments outside the village. Tepco pays the stipends under orders from the government.
Now they feel growing pressure to return whether they want to or not. The government has declared that the stipends, which range from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,000, will end next March, when temporary housing will also begin to be closed. Villagers who move back before then will receive a $9,000 bonus from Tepco, adding to the pressure to return……..
Experts call Miyakoji a forerunner of the problems that will be faced by the 150,000 people displaced by the accident over all, as additional communities are reopened as a result of a $36 billion government-financed cleanup. They say the evacuees will feel increasing pressure to go back from a government that wants to restore the preaccident status quo as much as possible to limit criticism of the powerful nuclear industry.
“This is inhumane and irresponsible,” said Teruhisa Maruyama, a lawyer who leads the Support Group for Victims of the Nuclear Accident, a Tokyo-based legal organization that helps residents seek increased compensation.
Authorities had hoped that Miyakoji could serve as a model for repopulating the evacuated communities. So far, only about a third of residents have returned, and most of them are older villagers who feel they have less to worry about from the long-term cancer risks of radiation……..
“They want to say that everything is back to normal so they can keep their nuclear plants,” said Mr. Mizuochi, 57, who helps his wife at the restaurant. “Failing to compensate us for our losses is a way of pressuring us to go back.” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/28/world/asia/forced-to-flee-radiation-fearful-japanese-villagers-are-reluctant-to-return.html?_r=0
Vast majority of French people prefer renewable energy, would not invest in nuclear power
France moving away from Nuclear power http://www.enn.com/energy/article/47327 27 April 14 France may be the world’s most nuclear energy dependent country, but times are changing as the country looks to increase the amount of wind—sourced electricity in its power mix.
When French President François Hollande took the reins of power in 2012 he pledged to reduce the country’s nuclear dependency from 75% to 50% by 2025. Today, France has a goal of reaching 19 GW of wind energy by 2020, up from its current level of 8.2 GW, according to the European Wind Energy Association’s (EWEA) latest statistics. This will significantly raise the percentage of wind powered electricity in the country from the 3% wind covers today. And, according to a very recent survey, the French people are firmly behind the transition.
Some 64% of French people see wind energy as a solution, among others, in the context of the energy transition, says a CSA survey published in March 2014. Moreover, 80% of the 1010 respondents consider it necessary to invest in wind without waiting for the traditional power plants to reach the end of their lifecycle.
65% of those surveyed said that they would invest in renewable energy (wind and solar/photovoltaic) today if they had to personally invest in one energy source, while 15% chose nuclear, 7% chose gas and 1% chose coal. Meanwhile, 69% of French people would choose wind energy if they had to choose one energy type to be constructed in their region. 75% chose solar, 21% chose nuclear, 16% chose gas and 4% chose gas.
The results show that the French are aware that an energy transition must take place, they are confident enough in renewables to invest if they could, and they know that the time to act is now.
People power brings a halt to Taiwan’s new nuclear reactors
Taiwan to halt construction at fourth nuclear power plant The Taiwan government will halt construction at the island’s fourth nuclear power plant as local opposition to atomic energy continues to mount. Australia Network News 28 April 14
President Ma Ying-jeou’s Kuomintang party says a decision has been made to seal off the plant’s first reactor after the completion of safety checks.
And construction of the second reactor will be halted immediately.
The move is the latest sign of pressure on Mr Ma’s administration from opposition parties and anti-nuclear activists, who are concerned about the safety of such facilities in earthquake-prone regions of Taiwan following the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Taipei over the weekend, urging the government to abandon nuclear energy……..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-28/an-taiwan-nuclear-protest/5414294
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