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The lies and distortions of James Conca and his Science Media Centre advisors concerning the health of the children of Fukushima

http://fukushimaemergencywhatcanwedo.blogspot.ie/2014/07/there-is-unacknowledged-tragedy.html?spref=fb
5 July 2014
Author Rights aHEMagain

There is an unacknowledged tragedy occurring for the children in Japan.

It concerns the methodology being used for the tracking and treatment of thyroid problems caused by the Fukushima disaster.
Out of 287,056 children 99.3% of them have received ONE standard ultrasound examination in the three years since the disaster.  136,804 of them are at significant risk of slipping through the cracks and going on to develop thyroid cancer that metastasizes before their next exam in 2015-2016 if a significant change to methodology isn’t implemented immediately.
 
Yet those trying to inform the public of these facts are being described as criminals by Forbes magazine in an article by James Conca titled “Scaring the Japanese People with Radiation is Criminal“.
 
Before I get to far into this I have a question for Mr. Conca and anyone else who believes that there is a group of eco-freaks desperate to see dying children just so their rhetoric is proven right.
 

I think that you and your ilk are some of the most despicable human beings on the planet, willing to prostitute your intellectual abilities to mislead the public in support of an industry of death. Yet even I with such strident rhetoric don’t actually think the intention behind your rhetoric is to see thousands of children struggling with the agony of trying to survive thyroid cancer.

 
Please recognize that those of us you paint as “fear mongers” are desperately trying to wake people up to the reality of this situation as we see it because we are trying to save lives, not because we are trying to prove a point.
 
[ed]
 
From the Forbes article, “A recent textbook case of this malfeasance is the Fukushima-induced thyroid scare in Japanese children. There is no increase in thyroid health problems in Japanese children living in and around the Prefectures of Fukushima and it is unlikely there ever will be (UN Report  ; Nuclear News ; J. of Am. Phys. and Surg. ; CBCnews ; Hiroshima Syndrome ; National Geographic ; Asahi Shimbun ).”
 
This is factually wrong, and the sources Mr. Conca cites do not support such a statement. They do say whatever increase has already been seen occurring can’t be blamed on radiation from Fukushima because at Chernobyl, it took four to five years for thyroid cancer to develop, so these cancers must be from another source. This four-to-five year figure seems to have become common kitchen table wisdom because no one cites a source for this figure.
 
Frequently it is just stated as fact by “an authority” such as this statement by Dr. Yamashita “Because the increase in thyroid cancer was reported to start 4 or 5 years after the Chernobyl accident, we expect no excess occurrence in the first 3 years in Japan. Therefore, assessment of current thyroid status will be completed within 3 years.”
— http://www.fmu.ac.jp/radiationhealth/publications/media/Yasumura_S_et_al_J_Epidemiol.pdf
 
This is a misrepresentation of the fact that the first study done on Chernobyl’s health effects began in 1991, five years after the accident and doesn’t refer to the actual results of that study. 
 
It’s interesting that Dr. Yamashita keeps repeating this “slow growth rate and long latency” in reference to Chernobyl, considering a paper he edited in 1998 described the exact opposite situation, “[Thyroid cancer] began developing with surprising rapidity and short latency.” (Childhood thyroid cancer: comparison of Japan and Belarus, Yamashita et al, First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan. Journal page 204, 1998 https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj1993/45/2/45_2_203/_pdf ).
 
The likelihood that radiation-induced thyroid cancer has an aggressive development and short latency is also supported in the following study.
 
“Although some sporadic tumors unrelated to radiation may be included among our patients, the shortest latency period for both benign and malignant tumors was 1 year as occurred in 3 patients, whereas the longest time was 69 and 58 years, respectively (Fig. 1).” (Latency Period of Thyroid Neoplasia After Radiation Exposure

Shoichi Kikuchi, MD, PhD, et al. Department of Surgery, UCSF Affiliated Hospitals, San Francisco, CA. Journal List nAnn Surg v.239(4); Apr 2004 PMC1356259, full text at Link 

 
Again, from Mr. Conca’s article, “However, many so-called researchers, activists and reporters claim thyroid cancers have exploded in Japan and Japanese children are dying by the thousands ( Business Insider ; Eco Childs Play).
They intentionally compared the wrong data sets, data sets that were not comparable, that used different methods, looked at different characteristics, even different ages. These news entities are not particularly known for their treatment of scientific issues and might be forgiven for not recognizing bad research, but just a phone call to a real scientist would have gone a long way to preventing this scare.” 
 
It is perhaps a bit of projection on Mr. Conca’s part to accuse Business Insider and Eco Child’s Play of intentionally misrepresenting the results of studies they cited. I should note that I haven’t read either article yet, so it will be interesting how our numbers compare.
 
Mr. Conca also tells us that the astoundingly large number of children having detectable nodules is simply because they were using very sophisticated ultrasound equipment. “According to Dr. Jane Orient in an article just published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons ‘Modern ultrasound equipment, such as that used in the TUE study, is able to detect thyroid carcinomas as small as a few millimeters, long before these may come to clinical attention.'”
 
Unfortunately this means neither Mr. Conca or Dr. Orient actually looked at the study protocol. Here is what the protocol actually calls for. Please note that the 10Mhz probe is a standard ultrasound examination, while the 18Mhz probe is the “new advanced” ultrasound investigation.
 

{{{ Study Protocol for the Fukushima Health Management Survey – Thyroid Ultrasound Examination (TUE) Program

by Shunichi Yamashita, released online August 25, 2012

 
ABSTRACT
 
Background: The accidents that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011 have resulted in long-term, ongoing anxiety among the residents of Fukushima, Japan. Soon after the disaster, Fukushima Prefecture launched the Fukushima Health Management Survey to investigate long-term low-dose radiation exposure caused by the accident.
…
 
Detailed surveys
Thyroid Ultrasound Examination (TUE) Program
 
The Chernobyl accident revealed that thyroid cancer in children was increased by internal exposure to radioiodine. Thus, to ensure early identification and treatment of thyroid cancer in children, and their lifelong follow-up, we decided to perform thyroid ultrasound examinations on all children.
…
Due to the importance of long- term follow-up of all children in the prefecture and the considerable anxiety of their parents, all children aged 18 years or younger in the prefecture will undergo ultrasound examination.
 
Target: All prefectural inhabitants aged between 0 and 18 years on 11 March 2011, ie, those born from 2 April 1992 to 1 April 2011, including evacuees living in other prefectures. The total population is approximately 360,000.
 
Methods and criteria: Thyroid ultrasound, the primary examination, is done using a device that (a) has a 10-MHz or higher frequency probe,..
When the primary examination reveals a nodule or cyst, a confirmatory examination is to be carried out at Fukushima Medical University Hospital or another hospital (certified by our expert committee) for advanced ultrasound examination.
 
During the confirmatory examination, a detailed ultrasound, blood testing, urine analysis, and aspiration biopsy cytology are performed as necessary. Ultrasound devices used in the confirmatory examination must have a 18-MHz or higher frequency probe.
…
The following diagnostic criteria are used: 
A1, no nodule or cyst; 
A2, nodule less than 5.0mm and/or cyst less than 20.1 mm;
B, further examination necessary (nodule greater than 5.0 mm and/or cyst greater than 20.1mm); and
C, urgent need for further examination.
}}} http://www.fmu.ac.jp/radiationhealth/publications/media/Yasumura_S_et_al_J_Epidemiol.pdf Less than 50% copied. Emphasis added.
 
You might note that they ran into a bit of a problem with the orignial intention of the protocol of giving a confirmatory exam to every child having a detectable nodule or cyst.
 
They clearly weren’t expecting to have to give 138,873 (testing results below) confirmatory examinations. So they added the A2 classification, eliminating the very group most in need of a more detailed examination. It also left the C classification as essentially meaningless.
 
I want to point out here that this is not a comprehensive public health policy guiding Japan’s response to the immediate and serious health threats facing their people from the Fukushima disaster. Instead, it is a study. 
 
There also is no national tracking of physicians and hospitals to know how many children are being diagnosed and treated outside of the study. Given the secrecy laws recently passed in Japan, gathering and publishing such information is potentially illegal.
 
In any cases, here are the summarized results of the three-year “baseline-setting” period of TUE.
 
2011 Initial Cohort of 41,612 children
  (13 municipalities in the nationally designated evacuation zones).
2012 Cohort of 139,469 children
  (13 municipalities outside the nationally designated evacuation zones)
2013 Cohort of 105,975 children
  (34 municipalities outside the nationally designated evacuation zones)
 
FY 2011 Cohort  |  A1 = 26,321  /  A2 = 15,073  /  B = 218  /  C = 0
FY 2012 Cohort  |  A1 = 76,293  /  A2 = 62,185  /  B = 990  /  C = 1
FY 2013 Cohort  |  A1 = 45,568  /  A2 = 59,546  /  B = 861  /  C = 0
 
TOTALS  |  Total A1 = 148,182  /  Total A2 = 136,804  /  Total B = 2,069  /  Total C = 1
 
(A1 = no nodules or cysts;  A2 = nodules less than 5mm, and/or cysts less than 20mm; B = nodules greater than 5mm, and/or cysts greater than 20mm; C = urgent follow-up required)
 
Total primary examination = 287,056
Total who have nodules or cysts
  detected in the primary examination = 138,873 (48.4% of tested)
Total referred on to have
  confirmatory examination = 2,070 (1.5% of those with nodules/cysts detected)
 

Note: Testing of the FY 2011 Cohort was actually performed in late 2011 through 2013. So claims that it is impossible for the FY 2011 Cohort results to be related to Fukushima is a misrepresentation of the actual data.

 
So what were the results of these “confirmatory” examinations? These are the results as of March 31, 2014.
 
Cohort year  | # needing exams  /  # given exams  /  # deferred  /  # followup advised  /  # cytology
 
FY 2011  |  218  /  189  /  53  /  136  /  90
FY 2012  |  991  /  858  /  275  /  583  /  256
FY 2013  |  861  /  551  /  207  /  344  /  91
 
Total Examined = 1,598
Total deferred to next round
  of testing in 2015 = 535 (33.5% of confirmatory tests)
Total advised to have followup exams
  at 6 and 12 months = 1,063 (66.5% of confirmatory tests)
Total referred on to get Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy
  and Cytology = 437 (27.3% of confirmatory tests)
 

As you can see, only 1,598 children out of 287,056 were given the more advanced 18 Mhz ultrasound examination or 0.56%. So certainly that can’t be an explanation for why 48.4% children tested had nodules/cysts when 4-7% would be expected from previous studies (http://www.doctorslounge.com/index.php/reference/diseases/120 )
 

What were the results of those biopsies?

 

Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy and Cytology (FNAC) results as of 31 March 2014.
 
FY 2011 Cohort  |  15 suspicious or malignant, 13 surgical cases
FY 2012 Cohort  |  54 suspicious or malignant, 36 surgical cases
FY 2013 Cohort  |  21 suspicious or malignant, 2 surgical cases
Cohort Totals  |  90 suspicious or malignant, 51 surgical cases
 
90 suspicious or malignant or 20.6% out of 437 tested.
 

All of the figures I’ve given were drawn from the Thyroid Ultrasound Examination, FHMS http://www.fmu.ac.jp/radiationhealth/results/media/15-2_Thyroid_Ultrasound_Examination.pdf

 

 
So now we come to the crux of the matter.  Of 287,056 children 99.3% of them have received ONE standard ultrasound examination in the three years since the disaster.
 
Given the fact that Fukushima involves three, possibly four cores to Chernobyl’s one, and that those cores continue to periodically release plumes of radioactive iodine to Chernobyl’s single-release event, this is simply unconscionable.
 
Further, I don’t know what the total number of children there were in Japan at the time of the disaster, but they certainly weren’t all living in the municipalities tested.
 
While it is reasonable to expect the number of children to be impacted by the disaster to be highest in those locations receiving the highest levels of emissions, there are going to be children impacted throughout Japan.
 
This study isn’t doing anything to decrease the chance that the first time those children come to the attention of the medical community is when they show symptoms of their unrecognized thyroid cancer metastasizing to their lymph nodes and upper respiratory system.
 
This study also isn’t doing anything about the children born since the disaster who also stand to be impacted by the continuing releases from the plant.
 

Let’s return for a moment to Mr. Conca’s article. 

 
“So why are some unethical people declaring children are dying? Because they’re unethical. And they don’t care how many people they hurt as long as their political agenda is met. It’s nasty, cruel and wrong.
 
Of course, the same names keep popping up with these stories, like Joseph Mangano, Harvey Wasserman and Helen Caldicott. These articles all say the same thing and reference the same debunked scientific studies that skew data to indicate a non-existent problem.” — 
 
So I didn’t want to skew my numbers by reading the offending articles cited by Mr. Conca, but with that out of the way I prepared to have to face the unethical horror-show of sensationalist reporting of children dying.
 
While it unfortunately wouldn’t surprise me to find that children are already dying from thyroid cancer in Japan, I was curious what those articles were going to cite for evidence, since from my research I couldn’t find anything other than heartbreaking anecdotal accounts. Official death and mortality statistics for me have proven elusive.
 
Not a single mention. Not one single word. Not one tear-jerking photo. In either article. No where was there ANY mention of children dying.
 
Now I’d like you to re-read the quote from the Forbes article. Hmm. I’d like to discuss the kind of person who would write an entire article condemning the unethical, nasty, cruel and wrong writing’s of other author’s, going so far as to describe them as criminal, all predicated on a lie? A fiction. A story made up out of whole cloth.
I would be inclined to give Mr. Conca the benefit of the doubt about not understanding the difference between warning children may and declaring children are, if he wasn’t so damn clear about it.
 
What of these debunked scientific studies? Well the Business Insider article cites 4 studies, Radiology volume 237 issue 3, Management of Thyroid Nodules Detected at US: Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound Consensus Conference Statement; the New York Academy of Sciences book, “Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment,”  ; the journal Nature’s Scientific Report “Thyroid doses for evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear accident” ; and the Fukushima Health Management Survey . To my knowledge none of these have been “debunked”.
The Eco Child’s Play article cites no scientific studies.
 
“I understand the desire to reinforce a stereotype with data, but that is why being an actual scientist is important.” says Mr. Conca.
 
Well Mr. Conca, one doesn’t need to be an actual scientist to know what you are a;
 

Bald


Faced

 

Liar

 
aHEMagain
 
NOTE: All quoted material is less than 50% of cited sources. 
 
ps: while I also am not an actual scientist, I would be ecstatic to debate you any day of the week on your interpretation of the scientific literature in this matter, as well as your vague understanding of journalistic ethics.
 
pps: don’t f&^k with Helen Caldicott. Her ethics are beyond reproach, and it’s clear her primary concern, fostered by genuine compassion, is the welfare of all the children in question.

July 5, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | 12 Comments

Fukushima’s molten nuclear fuel cores – no technology exists to fix them

Top U.S. Official: “The reality is, no technology exists anywhere to solve problem” of Fukushima’s Fukushima-molten-coresmelted fuel — TV: Molten mass “will scorch into the earth” if not cooled, a ‘China Syndrome’; Geysers of radioactive steam shooting up for miles around (VIDEOS) http://enenews.com/top-official-reality-technology-exists-anywhere-solve-problem-fukushimas-melted-fuel-tv-molten-mass-will-scorch-earth-cooled-china-syndrome-geysers-radioactive-steam-shooting-miles-around-videos?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29

  • NHK: Experts say that one of the most difficult challenges of decommissioning the plant is removing fuel debris… And Magwood says that there is no magic wand to wipeout this problem.
  • William Magwood, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission: I think people have to be realistic how difficult this is, how long it’s going to take. During my visit to Japan this week, people have asked me from time to time, “Are there technologies in the US that can help solve this problem?” The reality is there is no technology that exists anywhere to solve this problem.
  • Watch the NHK broadcast here

‘Modern Marvels‘, History Channel (at 11:30 in):

  • Narrator: With the [water] pumps off, the core is being uncovered and its temperature is over 2,000 degrees and rising. When the core reaches 5,000 degrees it will melt, becoming a molten mass — metallic lava that will burn through the 8 inch steel containment vessel. Once out of the plant it will scorch into the earth itself. What happens next could become an unrivaled technological disaster.
  • Wilborn Hampton, New York Times reporter: They reach the water table, it will immediately turn to steam, boiling steam. There will be geysers of radioactivity steam shooting up in parking lots and driveways and streets and houses for miles around.
  • Narrator: The nightmare scenario is known as the ‘China Syndrome’. Land surrounding the plant will become uninhabitable. A study some years earlier has suggested upwards of 40,000 people could die if the ‘China Syndrome’ becomes reality.
  • Watch the History Channel broadcast here

July 5, 2014 Posted by | Fukushima 2014 | Leave a comment

UK National Archives release chilling list of the nation’s nuclear targets

Chilling documents reveal Newquay was “probable nuclear target” during Cold War http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Documents-reveal-Newquay-probable-nuclear-target/story-21329076-detail/story.html  By CGAlex  July 04, 2014 RAF St Mawgan was one of 106 cities and military targets the UK government thought would be hit in a nuclear war with the USSR in the 1970s, according to documents released by the National Archives.

During the cold war, a list of the places thought most likely to come under nuclear attack by the Soviet Union was agreed by the intelligence services, military commanders and the Cabinet Office under Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath. The list of “probable nuclear targets in the United Kingdom” approved by the Cabinet Office was issued to defence chiefs marked “top secret” by air commodore Brian Stanbridge in May 1972. It included 38 towns and cities, 37 UK and US air bases, 25 control, communications and radar facilities and six naval sites. Experts expected London to be devastated by two to four bombs of up to five megatons each exploding over the city.
Map-UK-nuclear-targets-1970
Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham were each said to be in line for one or two “airbursts” of up to five megatons – 333 times more powerful than the 15-kiloton US nuclear bomb that flattened the Japanese city of Hiroshima in August 1945, killing 140,000 people. According to military planners, some of the UK’s more remote regions could also have been blasted. RAF St Mawgan, near to Newquay, was down to be hit by a three-megaton bomb. A military base in Plymouth was also apparently doomed as it too featured on the chilling list. Other top secret memos from 1971 said that the target list was drawn up for military planning purposes and to help “contingency planning particularly in the field of home defence.” According to former nuclear weapons design engineer Brian Burnell, who discovered the documents, the real aim was not to defend civilian targets. Military planners wanted to try to ensure that UK-based nuclear bombers survived to launch a counter-attack against the Soviet Union, he said. He added that the Whitehall planners were confused about Soviet military intentions. “I’m baffled by the omission of targets like power plants, or other major infrastructure.” A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: “These are historical records and like many other documents released every year by the National Archives have little or no relevance to the present day.” Read more at http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Documents-reveal-Newquay-probable-nuclear-target/story-21329076-detail/story.html#5Yc6go2PAiOqKmZF.99

Read more: http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Documents-reveal-Newquay-probable-nuclear-

July 5, 2014 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | 1 Comment

Petition to Obama: TAKE NUCLEAR SUBSIDIES OUT OF EPA CARBON RULES

sign-thisFlag-USATAKE NUCLEAR SUBSIDIES OUT OF EPA CARBON RULES https://www.credomobilize.com/petitions/take-nuclear-power-out-of-epa-carbon-rules
TO: PRESIDENT OBAMA
11,302
of 15,000 signatures
________________________________
Campaign created by Michael Mariotte FACEBOO
While I support your efforts to address global warming, costly consumer subsidies for old, uneconomic nuclear reactors and new nuclear power must be removed from your climate plan. These reactors can and should be replaced with clean renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Why is this important?

Nuclear power is not only ineffective at addressing global warming, by misdirecting money better spent on clean renewable and energy efficiency resources, it is actually counterproductive.

But that’s not nuclear’s only drawback in addressing our climate crisis. As NIRS’ new fact sheet on nuclear power and climate indicates, new nuclear power would be too slow, cost too much, create too much radioactive waste, pose too much threat of nuclear disaster, and produce both too much plutonium and even carbon to be useful as a climate strategy. Meanwhile, the costs of clean renewable energy are plummeting and capacity is skyrocketing, making renewables the clear choice to replace both polluting nuclear and fossil fuel plants.
Yet the EPA’s carbon reduction proposal released June 2 would encourage ratepayer subsidies to keep uneconomic, aging and dangerous nuclear reactors that otherwise would close operating indefinitely. The proposal also would encourage more construction of extraordinarily expensive new reactors. Both of these steps would have the effect of deterring deployment of 21st century energy technologies, including solar, wind, geothermal, advanced energy efficiency, distributed generation, smart grids and other clean energy programs.

Tell President Obama that the nuclear provisions in the Administration’s carbon reduction plan must be removed and clean energy must be supported if we are to effectively address global warming.

July 5, 2014 Posted by | ACTION | Leave a comment

Plutonium flows to the Pacific from Fukushima’s ruptured nuclear reactor containments

PuGov’t Expert: Plutonium is certainly being discharged into Pacific Ocean from Fukushima plant; Flowing out of ruptured containments — TV: Reactor water turns into ‘yellowish, fizzing liquid’ from damaged fuel rods… “It actually vibrates” (PHOTO & VIDEO) http://enenews.com/study-plutonium-being-discharged-fukushima-pacific-ocean-flowing-ruptured-containment-vessels-tv-reactor-water-becomes-yellowish-fizzing-liquid-damaged-fuel-rods-actually-vibrates-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29

P. Bossew, German Federal Office for Radiation Protection, PLUTONIUM EMISSION FROM THE FUKUSHIMA ACCIDENT (pdf), 2013 (emphasis added): While much has since been published on environmental contamination and exposure to radio-iodine and radio-caesium, little is known about releases of plutonium […] The inability to cool the fuel led to melting of parts of the reactor cores (which parts exactly, is not yet well known) […] [Causes of the containment] ruptures and leaks […] are not entirely clarified […] explosion seems to have produced further structural damage in the containments, at the one hand, and on the other hand released large amounts of radionuclides into the environment. […] the fraction of Pu released into the environment can be expected to be higher [than] atmospheric releases only. Certainly some Pu has been released with liquid effluents and discharged into the ocean. […] The liquid discharges certainly also contained Pu. […]

‘Modern Marvels‘ History Channel (at 19:45 in): It is now 28 hours since the accident at Three Mile Island began. The men in the control room have no way of looking into the reactor…. it now seems clear some of the 36,000 slendertubes holding the uranium fuel have cracked, this is allowing radioactivity to escape into the reactor coolant water. It is imperative operators know how much radioactivity is now in the coolant. Too much, and the nuclear chain reaction could restart… Foreman Ed Hauser agrees to risk his life to take the readings. This is allowing radioactivity to enter the coolant water. He is in for an even greater scare when he draws the coolant water sample. The water from the reactor should be clear; instead he stares at a yellowish, fizzing liquid… It actually vibrates in his hand.

See also: Study: Water helps dissolve Fukushima’s melted nuclear cores, accelerates corrosion — Plutonium concentrates on outer edge of fuel — Poses “a much longer environmental threat” than initial releases — Transport of nuclear material into environment to continue for many years if not isolated

Watch the History Channel’s program here

July 5, 2014 Posted by | - plutonium, Fukushima 2014 | Leave a comment

Ever escalating costs of failed Florida nuclear plant

nukes-hungryTrigaux: Failed Florida nuclear plant’s costs keep rising Tampa Bay Times Robert Trigaux 3 July 14, The costs of prematurely closing Crystal River 3 — Duke Energy’s sole nuclear power plant in Florida — keep on rising. Duke Energy recently agreed to a settlement that sent at least $55 million to eight minority owners of “CR3.” That’s the nuke plant Duke closed last year due to a bungled do-it-yourself repair job that the power company finally acknowledged last year would prove too expensive to fix. The bigger settlement sums are going to minority investors like Ocala and the Orlando Utilities Commission. But even smaller towns like Bushnell and Alachua, with small stakes in CR3, will be compensated.

Another $8.4 million will go to nine wholesale customers with contracts to receive electricity from CR3. Those customers range from Homestead, south of Miami, to Bartow in Hillsborough County.

Total payout to minority owners and wholesale customers: $63.4 million.

The 860-megawatt Crystal River plant was expected to operate until 2036. Instead, CR3’s concrete containment wall cracked in 2009. Never restarted, the plant is scheduled to be decommissioned over the next 60 years at a cost topping $1 billion……..

CR3’s demise coincided with a severe state recession that has decreased demand for electricity since 2008.

“We do not need to add more capacity at this time,” McCain said. “But it was important for these cities and utilities to end their ownership and liabilities in Crystal River 3. This settlement transfers ownership back to Duke.”

One more CR3 conflict resolved with big checks. They likely won’t be the last.

$63.4 million: Cashing out of Duke Energy’s closed nuclear plant………..

Contact Robert Trigaux at rtrigaux@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8405. Follow him@venturetampabay. http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/amid-pricey-ripples-from-failed-florida-nuclear-plant-minority-investors/2186912

July 5, 2014 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Tough challenge: nuclear cleanup of 1976 ‘Atomic Man’ Hanford disaster site

Nuclear site home to the 1976 ‘Atomic Man’ disaster that exposed worker to ‘500 times’ the occupational standard of radiation to be demolished Daily Mail, 4 July 14 

  • Harold McCluskey was working at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation when a chemical reaction caused a glass glove box to explode.
  • He was exposed to the highest dose of radiation from the chemical element americium ever recorded — 500 times the occupational standard
  • It took more than a year for doctors to remove enough radioactive material from his body to make it safe for him to be around other people
  • The DOE hopes to have the facility ready for demolition by summer 2016

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER and AP

“……….Hanford contains the nation’s greatest collection of nuclear waste, and for more than two decades has been engaged in the dangerous work of cleaning up that waste. The space now dubbed the McCluskey Room is located inside the closed Plutonium Finishing Plant and is scheduled for cleanup this summer.

‘It’s been largely closed up since the accident,’ Geoff Tyree, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy in Richland, said Wednesday. ‘It was restricted for the potential for airborne radiation contamination.’

Since 2008, the Department of Energy and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company have been preparing the plant for demolition.

‘About two-thirds of the Plutonium Finishing Plant is deactivated — cleaned out and ready for demolition,’ said Jon Peschong, an assistant DOE manager in Richland. ‘Cleaning out the McCluskey Room will be a major step forward.’

When specially trained and equipped workers enter the room this summer, they will encounter airborne radioactivity, surface contamination, confined spaces and poor ventilation, the DOE said.

They will be wearing abrasion-resistant suits that protect them from surface contamination and chemicals. A dual-purpose air system will provide cool air for breathing and cool air throughout the suit for worker comfort, allowing them to work for longer periods of time. The suits are pressurized, to prevent workers from coming into contact with airborne contaminants.

The McCluskey Room ‘is going to be the toughest work ahead of us as we finish cleaning the plant and getting it ready for demolition by the end of September 2016,’ Tyree said. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2678623/Department-Energy-plans-demolition-nuclear-site-home-1976-Atomic-Man-disaster-exposed-worker-500-times-occupational-sta

 

July 5, 2014 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

All too close to USA Nuclear Waste project – very strong earthquake

‘Very strong’ quake hits New Mexico border — Seismic data spikes at WIPP nuke site — Emergency declared at nearest nuclear plant — “Larger magnitude event could still occur” — TV: “Sounded like a train derailed” — “Very rare… Still trying to figure out what caused it… no known fault lines in area” (VIDEOS) http://enenews.com/very-strong-quake-hits-near-new-mexico-border-seismic-data-spikes-near-wipp-site-emergency-decalred-at-nearest-nuclear-plant-larger-magnitude-event-could-still-occur-tv-sounded?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=e

USGS, June 29, 2014: M5.2 – 50km NW of Lordsburg, NM 04:59:33 UTC (Max CDI (maximum reported intensity) = VII, Very Strong)

Fox 10, June 29, 2014: “Thought we heard a train coming… it sounded like a train might have derailed… [Scared] is an understatement, we were shaking.” -Sherry Huggins, near New Mexico/AZ border

KOLD-TV Tuscon, June 29, 2014: “A very rare occurrence… even the lights were moving around [in our Tuscon studio]”

Fox 10, June 29, 2014: “A lot of people were like what’s going on?… Looks like a bomb went off.” -Steve Krafft, reporter

NRC, June 30, 2014: PALO VERDE (nuclear plant near Phoenix, AZ) […] Emergency Class: UNUSUAL EVENT […] EMERGENCY DECLARED […] “The following event description is based on information currently available. If through subsequent reviews of this event, additional information is identified that is pertinent to this event or alters the information being provided at this time, a follow-up notification will be made […] Initial walkdowns of plant equipment and review of plant parameters have found no unusual conditions or damage to plant equipment. No abnormalities caused by the seismic event were observed. […] Initial analysis of the Seismic Monitoring Instrumentation System indicated a seismic event, below the magnitude of the 0.10g spectra Operating Basis Earthquake (OBE) and the 0.20g spectra Safe Shutdown Earthquake (SSE). […] Notified DHS, FEMA  […] Emergency classification termination was declared […]

KOLD-TV Tuscon, June 29, 2014: “They are still trying to figure out what caused the quake because there is no known fault line in the area… It’s very common to see aftershocks, especially after a strong earthquake like what we saw… So where is this all coming from?… It’s probably occurring along a fault that we don’t know anything about… Maybe there is a new fault… and they’re going to be able to hopefully identify that fault… it’s not coming from any of the known faults.”

KRQE, June 29, 2014: “The southern half of New Mexico got a Saturday shake-up.”

Copper Area News, June 30, 2014: It is likely that small magnitude aftershocks will continue in the Duncan area for days or weeks. Most will probably go unfelt. A larger magnitude event could still occur. In the event of severe ground shaking, residents are advised to “Drop, Cover and Hold on”.

See also: – Official: We believe there’s been a breach… “It’s a very serious thing” — ‘Seismic event’ mentioned — High levels of alpha and beta radiation detected (VIDEO)

July 5, 2014 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Safety and secrecy concerns about China owning and managing Britains nuclear reactors

flag-Chinaflag-UKCHINA NIGHTMARE http://tomburke.co.uk/2014/07/03/china-nightmare/ July 3, 2014 by tomburke The prospect of the Chinese becoming owners, managers and even constructors of nuclear power stations in Britain has caused anxiety in some unexpected places. Both the right and the left, united in their determination to press ahead with more nuclear, have raised objections. Carefully wrapped in a blanket of security rhetoric, their argument boils down to an Augustinian ‘Bring me nuclear, but not by them’.

Meanwhile, a truly substantial reason why we should worry about Chinese involvement in the nuclear industry is yet to be noticed by anyone but the French Nuclear Safety Authority. They have just complained publicly about the lack of communication with their Chinese counterparts. Explaining this to the French Parliament they pointed out that ‘one of the difficulties in our relations is that the Chinese safety authorities lack means. They are overwhelmed.’

This led one of the French regulators to worry that ‘It’s not always easy to know what is happening at the Taishan site.’ (where Areva are constructing a reactor of the same type as they want to build in Britain). Another French inspector reported seeing big machinery such as steam generators and pumps not being maintained at ‘an adequate level.’

So why does this matter to us? We have very good safety regulators with an impressive track record of managing nuclear facilities well. We should worry about it because the Chinese are currently building only 28 reactors at the same time. This is the fastest rate of reactor build anywhere ever. Even so, they intend to double this build rate before the end of this decade. This is likely to make ‘overwhelmed’ seem like an understatement.

The importance of a rigorous regulatory regime has long been understood by the nuclear industry to be essential to retaining public confidence. ‘ An accident anywhere is an accident everywhere.’ has long been a mantra of industry leaders. Among the many contributors to the seriousness of the accident at Fukushima were failings in the nuclear regulatory culture.

Britain’s nuclear reactor programmes may have been a regulatory success but they have been an economic failure. A former head of the then nationalised electricity industry told Parliament that the AGR programme was ‘the worst civil engineering disaster in British history’. But this had one huge, if unlooked for advantage. No-one else had reactors like them. This meant that when the accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima happened we were well placed to argue that it couldn’t happen here.

If we go ahead with the reactor at Hinkley this comfortable position will no longer be defensible. Hinkley will be a pressurised water reactor (PWR) just like most of the reactors in operation around the world and all those the Chinese are building. If the already stretched  Chinese nuclear regulators prove unable to prevent a nuclear accident in China it will have  direct repercussions here.

This compounds the gamble that the British government is taking with Hinkley. Not only are we selling 35 years of index linked tax receipts to the French government in return for electricity at twice the price we are currently paying for it but we are also placing the security of our future electricity supply into the hands of China’s ‘overwhelmed’ nuclear regulators.

If they fail to prevent an accident at a PWR in China it is very unlikely that the people of Somerset, or the rest of the country for that matter, will consent to one continuing to operate in Britain.

July 5, 2014 Posted by | China, safety, UK | Leave a comment

Britain’s $170 billion Trident nuclear missile program totally dependent on USA

Buy-US-nukesUK’s nuclear deterrent fully depends on US, cross-party commission finds Rt.com July 01, 2014 Britain’s $170 billion Trident nuclear missile program has won the support of an independent cross-party commission, but found to be totally dependent on US

Britain’s $170 billion Trident nuclear missile program has won the support of an independent cross-party commission tasked with identifying the value of the UK’s deterrent, due for renewal in 2016. This comes despite the commission’s acknowledgement of Britain’s total dependence on US systems.

The commission’s findings come as a blow to anti-nuclear campaigners, who are calling for the program to be drastically scaled back or the total disarmament of the UK’s nuclear-armed submarine fleet, arguing the money spent on an extremely costly system could be better spent on social needs and jobs at a time of austerity throughout the UK.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) estimate that the £100 billion required to renew Trident could employ 150,000 nurses, build 1.5 million homes or 30,000 new primary schools in the country………

The report notes that Britain’s deterrent is “a hostage to American goodwill.”

It adds: “If the United States were to withdraw their cooperation completely, the UK nuclear capability would probably have a life expectancy measured in months rather than years”.

“The UK is dependent on the United States for many component parts of the guidance and re-entry vehicle, and for the Trident ballistic missile system itself.”………..

It is lamentable that three years of hard work has not moved on the debate around Britain’s weapons of mass destruction,” said Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) general secretary Kate Hudson, reacting to the commission’s findings.

“The Trident Commission should have listened to the majority of the British people who oppose Trident replacement – and the overwhelming majority internationally who want to see a world free of these monstrous and outdated weapons. Instead the Commission has produced a rehash of Cold War thinking which fails to acknowledge that the world has moved on.”

“The Government’s own National Security Strategy downgraded the likelihood of a state-on-state nuclear attack: prioritizing terrorism, climate change and cyber warfare. To suggest that the UK should spend £100bn on a weapons system which we could never use and which doesn’t meet the threats we face is mindboggling.”

Scottish CND also criticized the Trident Commission for supporting Britain’s continued possession of nuclear weapons, based in Scotland, suggesting the report makes September’s independence referendum more pertinent.

John Ainslie, Coordinator of Scottish CND, said: “Malcolm Rifkind, Des Browne and Menzies Campbell are stuck in the past. The future is in the hands of the people of Scotland. We can vote Yes and kick out these indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction.” http://rt.com/uk/169688-trident-deterrent-dependent-on-us/

 

July 5, 2014 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

World’s Largest Floating Solar Power Project planned for India

India Plans World’s Largest Floating Solar Power Project (50 MW) After canal-top solar power projects, India is planning to install the world’s largest floating solar power project.Clean Technica, 4 July 14 

India’s leading hydro power generator National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) is planning to set up a 50 MW solar photovoltaic project over the water bodies in the southern state of Kerala. Renewable Energy College will provide assistance to the company for implementing the project…….http://cleantechnica.com/2014/07/02/india-plans-worlds-largest-floating-solar-power-project-50-mw/

July 5, 2014 Posted by | India, renewable | 4 Comments

Impressive growth in renewable energy jobs

Jobs in Renewable Energy Expand in Turbulent Process http://www.investorideas.com/news/2014/renewable-energy/07031.asp New analysis examines global trends in employment in the renewable energy sector

green-jobs

Ideas get bigger when you share them… Washington, D.C. – July 3, 2014 (Investorideas.com renewable energy stocks newswire) There may now be as many as 6.5 million direct and indirect jobs in renewable energy, according to updated data from theInternational Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Earlier assessments had put the global estimate at 2.3 million jobs in 2008 (United Nations Environment Programme) and at 5 million jobs in 2012 (International Labour Organization). Although these estimates suggest a strong expansion in employment in renewable energy, the figures also represent successive efforts to broaden data collection across countries and sectors, write Worldwatch Senior Researcher Michael Renner and IRENA’s Rabia Ferroukhi, Arslan Khalid, and Alvaro Lopez-Peña in the Worldwatch Institute’s latest Vital Signs Online trend (www.worldwatch.org).

The overall upward trend in renewable energy jobs has been accompanied by considerable turmoil in some industries. Nowhere are the upheavals more noticeable than in the solar photovoltaic (PV) sector, where intensified competition, massive overcapacities, and tumbling prices have caused a high degree of turbulence in the last two to three years, but they have also triggered a boom in installations. Global PV employment is thought to have expanded from 1.4 million jobs in 2012 to as many as 2.3 million in 2013.

Solar PV has bypassed biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel) as the top renewable energy job generator. Most of the 1.45 million biofuels jobs are found in the growing and harvesting of feedstock such as sugar cane, corn, or palm oil. This involves physically demanding manual work, and workers often contend with oppressive workplace conditions. Processing of the feedstock into fuels offers far fewer jobs, but the ones created are higher skilled and they pay better.

Employment in the next-largest renewables sector, wind power, is estimated to run to some 834,000 jobs. Uncertainty about the future direction of policies in several countries weakened job creation in this field in 2013, leading to a sharp drop in new installations in the United States and to weak markets in large parts of Europe and in India. In contrast, developments in China and Canada were more positive.

Countries that are home to half of the world’s population-China, members of the European Union, Brazil, the United States, and India-account for the bulk of renewable energy employment: 5.8 million direct and indirect (supply chain) jobs out of 6.5 million worldwide.

Better information is necessary for a range of countries to generate a more complete and accurate renewable energy employment picture. Attention is also needed on the question of whether development of renewable energy leads to job loss elsewhere, including in the conventional energy industries.

All in all, available information suggests that renewable energy has grown to become a significant source of jobs. Rising labor productivity notwithstanding, the job numbers are likely to grow in coming decades as the world’s energy system shifts toward low-carbon sources.

Country Highlights from the Report:

  • China is the largest employer in the renewable energy sector. The latest estimates by the country’s National Renewable Energy Center suggest almost 1.6 million jobs in the solar PV industry in 2013. Other major sources of renewables employment provide close to 1 million jobs.
  • European Union member states had more than 1.2 million renewable energy jobs in 2012. Even though Germany suffered some job losses in 2013, the country remains the dominant renewable energy employer in Europe, with about 371,000 jobs. Spain’s renewables sector has been hit hard by economic crisis and a series of adverse government policy changes. The country suffered a net loss of 23,700 jobs between 2008 and 2012, or 17 percent.
  • In Brazil, renewable energy is largely synonymous with sugarcane-based ethanol. A factor of rising importance is the growing mechanization of sugarcane harvesting, which has brought the number of direct jobs down from 460,000 in 2006 to 331,000 in 2012, even as ethanol processing jobs increased.
  • In the United States, the number of wind and ethanol jobs has fluctuated, but solar employment has been rising fast. In the wind sector, the stop-and-go nature of the U.S. Production Tax Credit has affected employment, with the 92 percent drop in new wind installations during 2013 resulting in a decline from 80,700 jobs in 2012 to 50,500 jobs in 2013. U.S. ethanol employment fell in 2012 because of rising feedstock prices, reduced yields due to drought, and lower demand, although conditions improved and employment stabilized in 2013. Solar employment was close to 143,000 jobs in 2013, a gain of 20 percent.
  • In most other countries, the number of renewable energy jobs is still limited, and often there is simply no reliable information at all.

For more information and to obtain a complimentary copy of “Jobs in Renewable Energy Expand in Turbulent Process,” please contact Gaelle Gourmelon at ggourmelon@worldwatch.org.

About the Worldwatch Institute:

July 5, 2014 Posted by | 2 WORLD, employment | Leave a comment

India’s nuclear deal with USA, Russia and France is a very bad one

flag-indiaIndia – now nuclear and environmental dissent is a crime Ecologist, Kumar Sundaram 4th July 2014 “…….Nuclear power is the new must-have India made advance promises for reactor purchases from France’s Areva, Russia’s Atomsroy export and US giants like Westinghouse and GE in exchange for these countries’ support for an exemption for India at the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) in 2008.

India was thus permitted to engage in international nuclear commerce despite its status as a nuclear weapons state outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

It is under the pressure of the commitment to the international nuclear lobby that the Indian government has been bulldozing everything that stands in their way:

July 5, 2014 Posted by | India, politics international | Leave a comment

Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has doubts about India becoming a member

flag-indiaNuclear export group divided over ties with India – diplomats Yahoo 7 news July 2, 2014, By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) – An influential global body that controls atomic exports is divided over establishing closer ties with India, meaning the nuclear-armed Asian power may have to wait a while longer before joining.

Diplomatic sources said different opinions were voiced in a debate on relations with India – a non-signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – at an annual meeting of the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) last week in Buenos Aires.

The United States, Britain and other members have argued in favour of India joining the trade body, established in 1975 to ensure that civilian nuclear trade is not diverted for military aims……the country would be the only member of the suppliers’ group that has not signed up to the NPT, a 189-nation treaty set up four decades ago to prevent states from acquiring nuclear weapons.

This has caused some NSG states to raise doubts about India joining their club, which plays a pivotal role in countering nuclear threats and proliferation. Some also argue that it could erode the credibility of the NPT, a cornerstone of global nuclear disarmament efforts……..https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/24372928/nuclear-export-group-divided-over-ties-with-india-diplomats/

July 5, 2014 Posted by | India, politics international | Leave a comment

Iran reduces its planned nuclear enrichment program

diplomacy-not-bombsIran eases demands for nuclear capacity at Vienna talks: Western diplomats BY LOUIS CHARBONNEAU AND PARISA HAFEZI  VIENNA Thu Jul 3, 2014 (Reuters) – Iran has reduced demands for the size of its future nuclear enrichment program in talks with world powers although Western governments are urging Tehran to compromise further, Western diplomats close to the negotiations said on Thursday.

The diplomats, who spoke to Reuters at the start of a two-week round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, said that despite some movement from Tehran it would not be easy to clinch a deal by their self-imposed deadline for a deal of July 20.

Tehran’s shift relates to the main sticking point in the talks – the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges Iran will maintain if a deal is reached to curb its nuclear program in exchange for a gradual end of sanctions. Ending the decade-long dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions is seen as instrumental to defusing tension and averting a new Middle East war.

“Iran has reduced the number of centrifuges it wants but the number is still unacceptably high,” a Western diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity and without further detail……….

Other disputes include the duration of any nuclear deal, the timetable for ending the sanctions, and the fate of a research reactor that could yield significant quantities of plutonium, an alternative fuel for nuclear weapons.

The current round of talks in the Austrian capital will run until at least July 15.  (Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl in Vienna and Mehrdad Balali in Dubai; Editing byMark Heinrich) http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/03/us-iran-nuclear-exclusive-idUSKBN0F810H20140703

July 5, 2014 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

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