Toxic planet – plastic bags and nuclear waste
From ordinary plastic bags to extraordinary pools of nuclear waste, we have unleashed a staggering array of poisons into the same ecosystems that feed us and provide us with other biological necessities such as air and water. In some cases, such as nuclear waste, we have heard decades of discussion and debate about risks, costs and benefits. However in most cases, we are either ignorant or barely aware of the impacts and potential risks…….Plastic Bags, Nuclear Waste and a Toxic Planet, Energy Collective, Steven Cohen, September 3, 2014 Last week we saw California move a step closer to banning one-time-use plastic bags and the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission legalize above-ground storage of nuclear waste. What’s the connection? Every once in a while I think it is useful to turn aside from the deeply rooted, but relatively straightforward problem of climate change, to the growing use of uncontrolled toxic substances in our daily economic life. The toxicity of our environment may well be more difficult to address than the problem of climate change.
The use of toxics in the goods we consume is so widespread that when firefighters enter a modern home that is burning, they must wear breathing devices for protection from the toxicity of the fumes that emanate from our burning floors, appliances, and walls. Household toxics are dangerous, but nothing compared to nuclear waste. Nuclear waste is one of the most toxic substances we have ever fabricated, always bringing to mind the late Barry Commoner’s common sense statement that nuclear power was a “hell of a complicated way to boil water.”………
These bags are an integral component of our throwaway lifestyle, and create major waste management and litter problems throughout the nation. Lightweight plastic bags can be found in the ocean, in trees, and just about everywhere. They are filling up landfills at a rapid rate. We managed to live without them before they were introduced in the 1970s and we’ll probably survive after they are gone; assuming California Governor Jerry Brown signs the bill and California begins yet another national environmental trend.
While we see progress on the coast, we remain mired in toxic waste back in the nation’s capital. The problem is that our broken political process is incapable of dealing with the nuclear waste that is accumulating at the nation’s civilian nuclear power plants. …….
In order to allow plants to be licensed again, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided that nuclear waste could now be stored indefinitely in well-guarded and well-maintained above ground storage facilities. Scientists estimate that some nuclear waste will remain toxic for hundreds of thousands of years. In fact, one of the reasons for below ground storage was the likelihood that the repository would last longer than our current civilization.
Many of my climate change-oriented colleagues argue that nuclear power is a realistic and desirable replacement for fossil fuels. But any close look at the technical and political problems of nuclear waste should provide ample reason to look elsewhere for a solution to our energy needs. ………..
Our economy is filled with a range of substances and products that have been engineered without much thought given to long term environmental impacts. Our houses and fences were once made of wood, a fairly traditional and very biodegradable material that literally grows on trees. Today vinyl and other plastics that last longer and are easier to maintain have replaced wood in homes all over America. Many of our consumer products are far from biodegradable; some include toxics and many are designed for planned obsolescence. These ordinary, mundane products are entering our waste stream and finding their way into fragile, interconnected ecosystems all over the planet. Sometimes the impact is minor, sometimes it is significant, but generally it is unexamined, careless and casual.
From ordinary plastic bags to extraordinary pools of nuclear waste, we have unleashed a staggering array of poisons into the same ecosystems that feed us and provide us with other biological necessities such as air and water. In some cases, such as nuclear waste, we have heard decades of discussion and debate about risks, costs and benefits. However in most cases, we are either ignorant or barely aware of the impacts and potential risks…….
Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors – a big danger in the conflict
A worrying factor in Ukraine’s chaos: 15 nuclear reactors WP By Rick Noack September 3 As Ukraine looks like a country teetering on the edge of war, there’s an important factor to keep an eye on: The country’s 15 nuclear reactors.
“There haven’t been many conflicts in states with nuclear power facilities in the past, so we’re really entering unknown territory here,” said Jeffrey Mankoff, Deputy Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Russia and Eurasia Program. NATO has already shown its concern, sending a small team of civilian experts to Ukraine in April to advise the government on the safety of its infrastructure.
There is a historical component to the anxiety: In April 1986, a reactor of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant at Chernobyl exploded, causing the worst nuclear disaster in history, and a high rate of cancer among emergency workers and people living in the affected areas even today. Chernobyl happened in a time of peace: Today, Ukraine’s reactors operate near a war zone.
Closest to the fighting is Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Station, which houses six separate reactors: There are doubts about the safety mechanisms in place in these power plants. German public broadcaster ARD has warned that “a second Chernobyl disaster will be inevitable if the fighting in Ukraine cannot be stopped.” Sergej Boschko, who heads Ukraine’s nuclear regulatory agency,told ARD that “no nuclear power plant is protected against military attacks. They are not made for war, they are made for peace.”
Nuclear material also presents a problem: ARD reports that 100 containers of burned nuclear fuels were found in the open air 120 miles away from the front line. This waste product is radioactive and dangerous if stored incorrectly. Hans-Josef Allelein, the chairman of Germany’s Institute for Reactor Safety and Reactor Technology, said in an interview that these reports would indicate a “real danger” if true. “Such containers could theoretically be used as dirty bombs,” Allelein explained. “In the end, the area around a nuclear power plant needs to be secured with a reliable air-defense system …….http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/09/03/a-worrying-factor-in-ukraines-chaos-15-nuclear-reactors/
Chernobyl’s radiation still there in Europe’s wild boars
Radioactive Boars From Chernobyl Are Still Wandering Around Germany, Sarah Zhang, http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/09/radioactive-boars-from-chernobyl-are-still-wandering-around-germany/4 Sept 14 Nearly 30 years later, radiation from Chernobyl still scars the landscape. Perhaps most remarkably, some of that radiation travelled hundreds of kilometres downwind, settled into the soil, and moved up through the food chain. So now we have radioactive wild boars, still roaming around Germany causing trouble.
Since 2012, according to the Telegraph, the state government of Saxony has required that boars hunted for food be tested for radiation. One in three regularly exceeds the safety limit. How did wild boars born decades after the Chernobyl disaster become radioactive? The Telegraph explains:
Even though Saxony lies some 700 miles from Chernobyl, wind and rain carried the radioactivity across western Europe, and soil contamination was found even further away, in France.
Wild boar are thought to be particularly affected because they root through the soil for food, and feed on mushrooms and underground truffles that store radiation. Many mushrooms from the affected areas are also believed to be unfit for human consumption.
Wild radioactive boars may be dangerous to eat, but wild boars in general are a menace across Germany. They’re digging up gardens, shutting down the Autobahn, and even attacking the occasional poor soul. Read more about the boars at the Telegraph.
Lek Walesa warns that arming Ukraine could lead to nuclear war
Arming Ukraine could lead to nuclear war: Lech Walesa http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/arming-ukraine-could-lead/1342632.html> 03 Sep 2014 European military assistance to Ukraine could lead to a nuclear conflict between Russia and NATO, according to Poland’s iconic cold warrior and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa. KRYNICA, Poland: European military assistance to Ukraine could lead to a nuclear conflict between Russia and NATO, according to Poland’s iconic cold warrior and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa.”It could lead to a nuclear war,” the anti-Communist legend told reporters when asked whether the EU should send weapons to Ukraine to help it fights off separatist rebels and Russian aggression.
“The EU is well aware that Russia has nuclear weapons. NATO has them too. Must we then destroy each other?” said the former Solidarity trade union leader famous for negotiating a bloodless end to communism in Poland in 1989.
“This is why the EU keeps on repeating: stop being silly (…) This is why it isn’t getting involved too much!” he added, at an annual regional economic in Krynica, southern Poland.
The EU on Saturday agreed to impose fresh sanctions on Russia should Moscow failed to change its behaviour in Ukraine, after Kiev said Russian soldiers were fighting along side pro-Moscow rebels.
Massive transport of nuclear waste crossing the ocean from Fukushima
Fukushima forecast used by gov’t shows nuclear waste crossing ocean in single massive cluster — “Maximum concentration propagates eastward in Pacific toward U.S.” — Highest levels worldwide remain along coast of N. America through 2026 (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/fukushima-forecast-govt-shows-nuclear-waste-crossing-ocean-single-massive-cluster-maximum-concentration-propagates-eastward-pacific-highest-levels-world-remain-coast-america-2026-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (Norway), 2013 (emphasis added): The massive nuclear leakage into ocean from Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant was observed on March 25th,2011. The transport of leaked radioactive pollutant from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant was simulated… assuming constant and continuous leakage for 20 days (scenario 1) and for one year(scenario 2) starting from March 25th, 2011 and was integrated for 20 years… There is no remarkable difference of transport pathways… for the nuclear waste… The results of the ensembles indicate that the nuclear pollutant for both scenarios transports eastward to eastern Pacific… It takes about 10 to 15 years to reach the coast of East Asia… a realistic sourcefunction is required and atmospheric fallout and role of ocean ecology should also be taken into account, in order to get a more reliable assessment of possible impact of the radioactive leakage on the ocean environment.
Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Prof. Ola Johannessen, University of Bergen Geophysical Institute: Ocean spreading of radioactivity from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan […] The results show that the maximum concentration propagates eastward in the Pacific toward the United States during a 7-year period while the total concentration drops to 1-2% of the source concentration (100%) after 5 years.
Nansen-Zhu International Research Centre, China: Extraordinary earthquake hit Japan and led the nuclear leakage of Japanese Fukushima reactor to the ocean. Dr. Yongqi Gao with colleagues at NERSC and NZC used the numerical model to simulate the propagation of radioactive elements in the ocean. Model system has been used for EU RADARC (Simulation scenarios for potential radioactive spreading in the 21st century from rivers and external sources in the Russian Arctic coastal zone, 2001-2003) and Norwegian Research Council supported project ARC (Arctic Radioactive Contamination, 2004-2006)… results were also cited by the State Council of China.
Why Australia should NOT sell uranium to India
Australian and Indian nuclear trade http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/29-Aug-2014/australian-and-indian-nuclear-trade Hasan Ehtisham 4 Sept 14 Adding Australian uranium into India’s energy mix would have serious fallouts on prevailing strained relations between India and its nuclear-armed neighbours Australia is expected to sign a civil nuclear agreement with India during the visit of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott early next month. Negotiations have been concluded to smooth the path for uranium imports from Australia.
The news came out when hundreds of thousands of Indian men and women protested against the expanding nuclear industry. These protests have been a regular feature in Koodankulam (Tamil Nadu), Jaitapur (Maharashtra) and Gorakhpur (Haryana), and at least five activists have lost their lives since 2010 in their struggle against the Indian government’s decision without taking the affected parties on board. Radioactive waste from uranium mining in the country’s east is reportedly affecting adjacent communities. Thousands of Indians suffer from the effects of uranium mining related to poor technical and management practices.
Costs are killing the nuclear industry in USA – 3 new reactors, but 8 shutting down
TVA’s costly reactor illuminates nuclear challenge Duane Gang, USA TODAY September 3, 2014 “…..The Watts Bar project also illustrates the challenges facing the U.S. nuclear industry. Nuclear plants are expensive, complicated and time-consuming to build. They require huge sums of upfront capital — the new Watts Bar reactor could cost as much as $4.5 billion, nearly double earlier estimates.
Only two other utilities across the USA have new nuclear reactors under construction. The South Carolina Electric & Gas Company has two units underway in Jenkinsville, S.C. The Southern Company also is building two near Waynesboro, Ga.
By contrast, eight reactors have decommissioning in progress, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as companies find it too expensive to repair aging units or can’t compete economically with cheap natural gas…….http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/02/tva-nuclear-reactor-challenge/14990433/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories
Birth deformities and cancers in Indian villagers near uranium facilities
Independent studies of the health status of people who live near the uranium mines and mills have found both that there are physical deformities occurring at a much higher rate than controlled villages which are having similar population but are a little bit further away from the mines and mills, as well as lung diseases coming in at a much higher rate among those who work in the mines and mills.
Australia to sell uranium to India but at what cost to its people? Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 03/09/2014 Reporter: Stephanie March
As Prime Minister Tony Abbott prepares to sign off on a deal to sell Australian uranium to India, critics are warning of the cost to the lives and safety of India’s most vulnerable.
Transcript
CHRIS UHLMANN, PRESENTER: “……. critics say India’s drive towards a nuclear future is coming at a cost – the lives and safety of the country’s most vulnerable.
South Asia correspondent Stephanie March reports.
STEPHANIE MARCH, REPORTER: This lush forest land in eastern India is home to the Adivasi, one of the country’s Indigenous tribes people. Here in the town of the Jaduguda, the Adivasi live simple lives, much the way they have for centuries.
But the locals feel something isn’t right with the world around them.
Mohammad Yusuf is just one child in the village deformed since birth.
MOHAMMAD MOIN (voiceover translation): We didn’t realise that there was anything wrong with him immediately, but four to five months after he was born, we realised that his legs and arms were not functioning properly.
STEPHANIE MARCH: The 14-year-old tries hard to be independent, but his wasted and stiff body makes it hard for him to move.
MOHAMMAD MOIN (voiceover translation): The doctor’s examined him. They said it wasn’t polio. They said that there was some damage that had taken place before he was born. His nerves were damaged or something like that.
STEPHANIE MARCH: A few doors down, Jobarani Acharya’s three-year-old son, Zariyadev (phonetic spelling), struggles to breathe and can’t sit without help. She doesn’t know what’s wrong with him and can’t afford to take him to hospital to find out.
JOBARANI ACHARYA (voiceover translation): I worry about what will happen when he grows older. What can we do for him? How do we cope with this situation?
STEPHANIE MARCH: Jobarani’s neighbour is a young boy named Gunda, born blind and mentally handicapped. In this hamlet of a few dozen houses there are at least three children with obvious physical deformities and locals believe they know the cause.
MOHAMMAD MOIN (voiceover translation): One of my other children, just six days old, died after dark patches erupted on its body all of a sudden. With Yusuf too, it seems that there was some poisoning or radiation that led to a birth defect.
STEPHANIE MARCH: The village where Mohammad Yusuf and Zariyadev were born is less than two kilometres from this tailing pond, attached to a uranium mine run by the Government-owned Uranium Corporation of India Limited, UCIL.
MOHAMMAD MOIN (voiceover translation): We feel that these are due to the affects of uranium. We’ve seen these kinds of incidents not just with humans, but also with the babies born to animals.
GHANSHYAM BIRULLE, JHARKHAND ORG. AGAINST RADIATION (voiceover translation): We cannot see any benefits. We have received only cancer and diseases. UCIL has given us nothing else.
STEPHANIE MARCH: Independent studies on the impact of the mining operation have been scathing. One survey by Indian Doctors for Peace and Development found that children born to families living near the mining operations were almost twice as likely to have congenital deformities than those born in villages 30 kilometres away and that those with deformities were five times more likely to die than those living in non-mining areas.
30-year-old Rapta Sadr has been physically disabled since birth and blames his problems on being born near the tailing ponds.
In addition, cancer rate are 50 per cent higher in the villages near the tailing ponds and people are 20 per cent less likely to reach the average life expectancy for the state.
M.V. RAMANA, NUCLEAR FUTURES LAB, PRINCETON UNI.: Independent studies of the health status of people who live near the uranium mines and mills have found both that there are physical deformities occurring at a much higher rate than controlled villages which are having similar population but are a little bit further away from the mines and mills, as well as lung diseases coming in at a much higher rate among those who work in the mines and mills.
STEPHANIE MARCH: M.V. Ramana is a nuclear physicist based at Princeton University who’s written extensively on the nuclear industry in India. He’s closely studied the situation in Jaduguda.
M.V. RAMANA: As far as I know, UCIL has offered no evidence that is has actually carried out any kind of detailed epidemiological studies. All it has done is make various assertions. These assertions start with denial, saying that there is no such problem, or claiming that these problems have to do with malnutrition – exactly the kind of thing epidemiological studies rule out……http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2014/s4080503.htm
Japan’s Prime Minister’s wife reiterates her opposition to nuclear power
Japan’s First Lady speaks out on sales tax, nuclear power REUTERS, BY LINDA SIEG TOKYO Thu Sep 4, 2014 “…….FIRST LADY DIPLOMACY?
Abe has not been held a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping since taking office due to Sino-Japanese feuds over territory and wartime history. He has called on Xi to meet on the sidelines of an Asian-Pacific leaders gathering November.
Mrs. Abe said she hoped to meet Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, if possible, even if not one-on-one, since First Ladies could chat without the burden of national interests on their shoulders.
“I felt she is really beautiful and stylish and has an aura,” she said, referring to a meeting with Peng last year.
In another departure from her husband’s policies, Mrs. Abe reiterated that she believed Japan should exit nuclear power if alternate energy sources can be found, given the risks shown by the March 2011 Fukushima disaster, the world’s worst atomic accident since Chernobyl.
“Once an accident occurs, it is a terrible thing that cannot be undone,” she said. “If there are alternative sources of energy, I would like them to stop (nuclear power). I’d like them not to restart off-line reactors.”…….http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/04/us-japan-firstlady-idUSKBN0GZ07I20140904
$30 million grant to protect Washington DC from nuclear threats
Washington DC gets $30 million grant to protect against nuclear threats THE BLAZE< Sep. 3, 2014 Pete Kasperowicz The Department of Homeland Security announced that it has awarded Washington DC a $30 million grant to expand its ability to detect and deter nuclear and radiological threats.
The grant, which will be distributed to Washington DC over five years, was made by DHS’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, which runs a program called Securing the Cities. That program started in 2006 and provided aide to New York City, and was then expanded to the Los Angeles/Long Beach area………http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2014/09/03/washington-dc-gets-30-million-grant-to-protect-against-nuclear-threats/
Red Wing and Prairie Island Indian Community say new NRC waste ruling is no good
the only sensible thing to do is to STOP MAKING RADIOACTIVE TRASH
Red Wing officials disappointed in feds’ decision on spent nuclear fuel, MINN POST, By Joe Kimball | 09/03/14 Red Wing city officials and leaders of the Prairie Island Indian Community say they are unhappy with a recent Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruling that does little to resolve the ongoing dispute over storage of spent nuclear fuel.
The Prairie Island nuclear power plant is on the Mississippi River in Red Wing, and is adjacent to the Indian reservation.
A story in the Rochester Post Bulletin says the NRC ruling:
“…opens the door for on-site nuclear waste storage for 100 years or more. The language also lifts a suspension on licensing additional nuclear facilities even without the creation of a national repository for nuclear waste.”
Not good, says Red Wing City Council member Peggy Rehder, who has lobbied in Washington, D.C., on the issue, and wasn’t surprised with the ruling……
And Ron Johnson, president of the Prairie Island Indian Community’s Tribal Council, said in a statement:
“…the NRC affirmed a new rule and generic environmental impact statement that concluded that spent nuclear fuel — some of the most dangerous and toxic substances known to mankind — can be safely stored 600 yards from our homes indefinitely if no geologic repository is ever built. No other community sits as close to a nuclear site and its waste storage.”
According to the paper, Xcel Energy says it has “38 casks containing nuclear waste near Red Wing and is permitted to store waste in 64 casks when the current operating licenses end in 2033 and 2034.” http://www.minnpost.com/political-agenda/2014/09/red-wing-officials-disappointed-feds-decision-spent-nuclear-fuel
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