New York Symposium: The Dynamics of Possible Nuclear Extinction
Symposium: The Dynamics of Possible Nuclear Extinction l February 28-March 1, 2015 at The New York Academy of Medicine
A unique, two-day symposium at which an international panel of leading experts in disarmament, political science, existential risk, artificial intelligence, anthropology, medicine, nuclear weapons and other nuclear issues will be held at The New York Academy of Medicine on Feb 28- March 1, 2015. The public is welcome.
A project of The Helen Caldicott Foundation
http://helencaldicottfoundation.org/symposium-the-dynamics-of-possible-nuclear-extinction-l-february-28-march-1-2015-at-the-new-york-academy-of-medicine/
Revelations of UK cover-up on nuclear deals – management of Sellafield
IoS Investigation: Officials plotted Sellafield cover-up The Independent 15 Jan 15
MPs were denied the chance to challenge sweetener to private firm’s nuclear deal BY GEOFFREY LEAN , ANDY ROWELL AND RICH COOKSON Sunday 04 January 2009 Top civil servants and nuclear administrators colluded to prevent MPs from challenging a massive sweetener to a private business taking over the running of Sellafield, internal documents in the hands of
The Independent on Sunday reveals.
The documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, also disclose that the Government pushed through the handover at breakneck speed because it feared that the “unstable management arrangements” of the controversial Cumbrian nuclear complex risked its safety.
Yesterday, a leading Labour MP announced that he would try to get a parliamentary investigation into the revelations in the documents, which run to 140 pages and had been so heavily censored prior to release that many whole pages, and the names of most of the officials involved, have been systematically blanked out. Paul Flynn MP, a member of the House of Commons Public Administration Committee – which examines the performance of the Civil Service – is to ask it to inquire into what he calls “an egregious example of obstruction of parliamentary accountability”.
The cover-up arises from the awarding, late in November, of a contract to run the nuclear complex to Nuclear Management Partners, a consortium of US, French and British companies.
Although the contract is worth some £22bn, the consortium told ministers that it would walk away from the deal unless it was fully indemnified against the costs of cleaning up an accident at what is one of the world’s most hazardous nuclear sites.
Normally, as the documents repeatedly acknowledge, the Government would place a special minute before Parliament if it intended to undertake a liability of more than £250,000. MPs would then have 14 days to raise an objection, which would stop the undertaking going ahead until it had been dealt with. But MPs were not told about the Sellafield indemnity until 75 days after the last moment when they could object, even though it potentially exposes the taxpayer to liabilities running into billions.
The energy minister Mike O’Brien blames a “clerical oversight” for this. But the documents clearly show that the senior civil servants and nuclear administrators had been actively discussing how to limit MPs’ chance to object at least since early last year.
The documents have come to light only as a result of persistent pressure from Dr David Lowry, an independent environmental policy and research consultant, who is a member of Nuclear Waste Advisory Associates. The documents make it clear that the Government was determined to hurry through the handover of operations at Sellafield as quickly as possible because of what one of them calls “the current unstable management arrangements overseeing these extremely sensitive sites, and their high hazard inventories”. Another adds that this instability “constitutes a genuine risk to health, safety and environmental performance” at the complex……….
Other confidential documents, received after two Freedom of Information Act applications, divulge that three local councils in Somerset asked for £750,000 to fund a planning officer and legal advice from companies that want to build nuclear power stations in their areas, raising questions about conflicts of interest, and that the officially neutral NDA considered coming out in favour of new reactors. http://www.independent.co.uk/n
Record high radiation in Fukushima waste water -Cesium up 7,500% this week
Huge radiation spike detected at Fukushima plant — Multiple records set near workers trying to stop nuclear waste flowing into ocean — Cesium up 7,500% this week http://enenews.com/huge-radiation-spike-detected-fukushima-plant-record-levels-workers-attempting-stop-radioactive-material-flowing-ocean-cesium-7500-week?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Tokyo Electric Power Company Press Release, January 12, 2015 (Google Translation):
For pumping water groundwater observation hole No.1-12 taken on January 12, cesium 134, cesium 137, cobalt 60 and total beta value is higher as compared with the previous value, the maximum value previously is detected.
Cesium-134: 140 Bq/L [~7,500% above Jan. 5 level; new record high]- Cesium-137: 470 Bq/L [~7,500% above Jan. 5 level; new record high]
- Cobalt-60: 1.9 Bq/L [Quadruple previous record high set in 2013]
- β (all beta): 15,000 Bq/L [~6,000% above Jan. 8 level; ~1,300% above previous record high]
Note that observation hole No. 1-12 is near the Unit 2 trench which is filled with thousands of tons of highly radioactive water. Tepco is attempting to seal the trench, but has failed to do so. According to page 2 of Tepco’s presentation to Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority on Dec. 26, 2014 the only part of the trench that has been blocked is right next to No. 1-12 (see map on right).
China’s nuclear power delay – problems with its new Westinghouse Advanced Reactor
China’s First Advanced Nuclear Reactor Faces More Delays Start-Up Now Unlikely Until 2016 at the Earliest WSJ By CHUIN-WEI YAP And BRIAN SPEGELE Jan. 15, 2015 BEIJING—China’s ambitions to be a leader in nuclear technology have been dealt a fresh blow, as construction of its most advanced reactor is facing a new delay.The project—which China is developing with Westinghouse Electric Co. of the U.S.—faces new development problems and now isn’t expected to start up until 2016 at the earliest, the chief engineer at China’s state-owned reactor technology company said Thursday.
“We discovered some new problems during tests so we need to delay it more until next year,” Wang Zhongtang, chief engineer of China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp., said on the sidelines of an industry conference. Mr. Wang didn’t specify the nature of the latest problems found at ongoing trials for the reactor, nor did he provide a more precise time frame for its launch.
The delay is the second for the project, which had been slated to start by the end of 2013. It marks another setback for China’s clean-energy ambitions, as technical hurdles loom over Beijing’s aim to triple its nuclear power capacity by 2020…
….the delays have illustrated shortcomings in China’s nuclear sector, particularly when dealing with immature and first-of-a-kind technologies such as those found in the AP1000 reactor, said Li Ning, a nuclear-industry expert at China’s Xiamen University.
Chinese officials “are certainly very frustrated,” said Mr. Li. “I think they feel Westinghouse oversold the system, oversold the technology, promised more than they could really deliver.”………
China’s ambitions and vast market remain vital for the global nuclear industry. French nuclear engineering firm Areva S.A. , which lost out a key bid in 2007 to Westinghouse to build four reactors for China, is still seeking business there…….http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-first-advanced-nuclear-reactor-faces-more-delays-1421297393
When a B-52 crashed due to turbulence – carrying 2 nuclear bombs!
the weapons are found. Not entirely safe, but “…relatively intact…” according to the Air Force. It’s a scary sounding moderation to describe radioactive A-bombs lying around in the woods of the Eastern U.S. unattended.
[Read also: On this day in 1968 a B-52 crashed in Greenland with 4 hydrogen bombs]
The nuclear nightmare of Savage Mountain: when a B-52 crashed due to turbulence. With two nukes, The Aviationist, Jan 15 2015 By Tom Demerly
This is true. And it’s terrifying. It reads like an Ian Fleming or Tom Clancy thriller. But it’s real. Continue reading
Turkey’s environmental impact report on nuclear power was forged
Signatures on nuclear power plant environmental impact report forged January 12, 2015, Monday/ 16:25:18/ TODAY’S ZAMAN / ANKARAThe signatures of engineers said to have prepared an environmental impact report (ÇED) for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, slated to be built in Mersin province, were found to have been forged, casting doubts on the overall integrity of the report.
A report in the BirGün daily on Monday maintained that the engineers responsible for preparing the Akkuyu plant resigned from their posts six months before the reports were due to be turned in, prompting suspicion that the assessments had been conducted unsupervised by professionals.
The Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects’ Chambers’ (TMMOB) requested a criminal investigation, and found that two of the signatures of the nuclear energy engineers had been forged. Furthermore, according to BirGün, the report had been revised by the contractor firm, Akkuyu NPP — a subsidiary of Russian energy firm Rosatom and the private company issuing the ÇED, without notifying the engineers.
According to the report, the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning approved the tampered ÇED, effectively giving the go-ahead for the construction of the power plan………After independent analyses by three experts, the signatures on the report were found to have been forged and the license of the private firm that issued the ÇED is expected to be revoked……….
Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said then that that the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant was to continue even though the ÇED report prepared by Akkuyu NPP JSC, which won the government tender and is the investor of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, had been turned down by the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning……… http://www.todayszaman.com/business_signatures-on-nuclear-power-plant-environmental-impact-report-forged_369563.html
France’s government on high alert due to UFO’s over nuclear facilities
UFOs spotted over nuclear plants in France and Belgium Open Minds Alejandro Rojas January 15, 2015
The French government is on high alert due to a large amount of UFO sightings over nuclear power plants since October, 2014. The latest sighting in France was just last week, and witnesses in Belgium spotted one in December. Most media outlets suspect that the objects are drones, but not all of the witnesses are convinced. If they are drones, the authorities say they do not know who they belong to. According to Austrian news site ORF.at, there were 18 separate occasions UFOs were seen flying over nuclear power plants in France between early October and early November. They say authorities suspect it is the coordinated effort of an unknown group.
ORF.at says the sightings have sparked a debate over nuclear power plant security. Greenpeace has accused the French government of downplaying the danger of these unknown over flights.
The latest incident was announced on January 3, 2015. The nuclear power plant in Nogent-sur-Seine, southeast of Paris, says two security guards saw “two flying objects.” In late December, an object flew over a nuclear power plant in Belgium. The power plant is in Doel, about 10 miles from Antwerp. The news site Spiegel Online, says that plant had been shut down four months ago reportedly due to sabotage. No further details have been released.
According to Speigel Online, Greenpeace again raised concerns that the plants “are not adequately protected from attacks by drones.”……….http://www.openminds.tv/ufos-spotted-nuclear-plants-france-belgium/31709
Australian government trying to kill renewable energy, but funding thorium nuclear power research in China
Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs
Isn’t this just dandy? The Australian government can’t afford to fund services to the needy in health, education, and is doing its darndest to kill clean energy, but is quietly promoting nuclear energy. And not conventional nuclear energy, which is bad enough, but the untested, hugely costly thorium experiment – the same one that was tried and found unviable 50 years ago
ANSTO-SINAP Joint Research Centre, 16 Jan 15 In December 2012, ANSTO signed a memorandum of understanding with the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) for cooperation in the area of materials research and development.
UK government secrecy about China’s involvement in the new £24bn Hinkley nuclear power plant
Questions about UK scrutiny of Chinese nuclear tie-up By Rob BroombyBritish affairs correspondent, BBC World Service BBC News 15 Jan 15 The government is refusing to say whether it has followed its own rules in allowing China’s investment in the new £24bn Hinkley nuclear power plant, citing questions of national security.
Chinese involvement in UK energy schemes remains controversial, not least because of the historical links between its industry and the military.
The National Security Council is supposed to review critical projects.
But ministers have consistently refused to say whether this has been the case.
The BBC requested information, under Freedom of Information laws, about whether the National Security Council had discussed China’s investment in a proposed new Hinkley C reactor as part of a consortium led by French firm EDF and if it had, whether it had been approved.
In a delayed response, the government confirmed the information was held by the Cabinet Office but refused to say whether the NSC had approved or even discussed China’s expected 30-40% stake in the Somerset project or the implications of its long-term aim of building nuclear reactors of its own in the UK……….
Antony Froggatt, senior research fellow on energy and environment at the Chatham House think tank, said openness about the Hinkley project was “absolutely vital” given the scale of state financial support.
“The government should therefore make public the details of the discussions in the National Security Council and other key decisions such as within the HM Treasury on the UK Guarantee Scheme to inform the public and the wider EU about the cost, security and overall value of the project,” he said.
French firm EDF had been due to make a final investment decision in Hinkley C by the end of last year but the project is still in the balance, not least because of the debts weighing down the French reactor developer Areva.
Similar reactor projects in France and Finland are running hugely over budget and behind schedule.
Meanwhile China is poised to increase its influence in the UK energy market with reports that the state owned China General Nuclear Corporation was preparing to pay an estimated £100m for an 80% stake in three UK wind farms which would be Beijing’s first purchase of onshore wind generation capacity in the west. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-30778427
Neutron radiation from Fukushima has been grossly underestimated
Fukushima Released 13,000,000,000 Times More Neutrons than Initially Estimated http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-released-13000000000-times-more-neutrons-than-initially-estimated/5424619
“Neutron radiation is the most severe and dangerous radiation” known to mankind January 14, 2015
We estimated a lower limit of 5.2 × 1021 slow neutrons m–2 sec–1 [m–2 sec–1 = per sq. meter per second] were emitted from the nuclear fuel rods to the sea water injected in the reactors
- Priyadarshi et al. (2011) have estimated a release amount of 4 × 1011 slow neutrons m–2. The large difference with our estimation [13,000,000,000 times higher] comes from the intrinsic limit of the box model study by Priyadarshi et al.
- Our model directly estimates the amount of material released from the reactor core
- The estimated… number of neutron represent a lower limit of the amount of radiation emitted from the nuclear reactors… These values can be used as a proxy to the total amount of radiation emitted since the melt down
- [The authors] express their gratitude to… the Japanese Ministry of Environment…Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Technology (MEXT)… [and] the Cabinet Office
Priyadarshi et al.: Evidence of neutron leakage at the Fukushima nuclear plant… Despite the obvious implication for human health… there are no quantitative estimates of the neutron flux leakage… [T]ons of seawater were used as a coolant… A consequence is that salts and minerals present in seawater become radioactive by reaction with thermal neutrons… We calculated the total number of neutrons that leaked from the reactor core [and] estimate that a total of 4 × 1011 neutrons per m2 were released before March 20.
Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Coordination: Neutron radiation is a kind of ionizing radiation which consists of free neutrons… Neutrons readily pass through most material, but interact enough to cause biological damage. Neutron radiation is considered to be the most severe and dangerous radiation available. Neutrons can travel great distances…
Idaho’s New Nuclear Waste Deal done in secret – “DONE IN THE DARK OF NIGHT.
Former Idaho Governors: Strong Words for Otter’s New Nuclear Waste Deal, Boise Weekly BY JESSICA MURRI ON THU, JAN 15, 2015 FORMER IDAHO GOVERNOR CECIL ANDRUS SAID GOV. C.L. “BUTCH” OTTER’S RECENT DECISION TO REOPEN IMPORTATION OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL TO THE IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY WAS “DONE IN THE DARK OF NIGHT.”
Democrat Andrus sat aside former Republican Governor Phil Batt, at the Andrus Center for Public Policy on Thursday morning, and both were clearly upset and appalled that Otter would break Batt’s 1995 landmark agreement, forbidding any more nuclear waste to come into Idaho.
“Neither one of us have any intention of letting this decision by two of the elected officials in the state of Idaho (Otter and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden) come to pass,” Andrus said.
Both the governors spent large amounts of their terms stopping the importation of spent nuclear fuel into Idaho. Batt produced the 1995 Agreement, which was then ratified by more than 60 percent of Idaho voters.
“It’s not my agreement, it’s Idaho’s agreement,” Batt said.
But in spite of that 1995 pact, Otter and Wasden have agreed to receive 50 spent nuclear rods, each weighting 1,500 pounds, for a total of 37.5 tons of nuclear waste, according to Andrus. The letter between Wasden and the Department of Energy states that the nuclear waste will be used for “research purposes.”
Batt doesn’t buy that. He wrote a letter to Otter on Jan. 12, criticizing Otter’s decision and reprimanding him for going ahead with it without consulting Batt or Andrus.
The danger of the waste accumulating at the Idaho National Laboratory, Batt said, is the risk it poses for the Snake River Aquifer, directly under the repository site.
“If there was contamination in that water,” Batt said, “it would cause our potato industry to fold up. It would cause fish farms to fold up in Magic Valley. It would create all kind of problems with municipal water.” “It could gain $10 million in revenue, but that isn’t one tenth of one percent of what you’re gambling against if any of that waste gets lose in the aquifer,” Andrus added……….
“If this was so important to the state of Idaho and how we were going to gain from it, why didn’t he mention it in his State of the State address?” Andrus said. “I’ll tell you why, it’s because he didn’t want the people to know what they’d done in the dark of night in secrecy, in breaking this agreement and letting new waste come into the state of Idaho. It’s a travesty,”………..http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2015/01/15/former-idaho-governors-strong-words-for-otters-new-nuclear-waste-deal
Japan’s electricity consumers to pay half the $180+ cost of dismantling each nuclear reactor
Japanese electric power consumers to share NPP dismantling costs It costs at least $180 million to decommission one reactor TOKYO, January 14. /TASS/. The costs of dismantling of outdated or unsafe nuclear power plants in Japan will be equally shared by the country’s electric power consumers, a working group of the economy, trade and industry ministry said on Wednesday………The government said nuclear power plants will be decommissioned when their authorized 40-year lifespans expire. Some 5 reactors are expected to be dismantled and the plans will be officially announced next month.
The loss due to decommissioning of one reactor is estimated at least at $180 million. Such expenses could deal a serious economic blow to private companies, which own the power reactors, and weaken the country’s economy in general.
Japan’s energy companies have submitted applications for another 19 reactors to resume their operations, but the process has been slowed down by safety checks and paperwork…….http://itar-tass.com/en/world/771074
Iran and USA held more than 6 hours of talks on nuclear deal
US, Iran hold ‘substantive’ talks on nuclear deal, Yahoo News By Jo Biddle Geneva (AFP) – Iran and the US held more than six hours of talks seeking to nail down a complex nuclear deal, but negotiators remained tight-lipped on what progress had been made as the clock ticks down to a third deadline………
In a surprise move, US officials announced the talks had ended, only for Kerry to return to Zarif’s hotel for another hour-long session deep into the night.
The two sides are seeking to break a stalemate which has seen two earlier deadlines pass without an accord.
Now negotiators have given themselves until the end of June to reach a comprehensive agreement which would prevent the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear bomb in return for an easing of iron-clad global sanctions……..
The new Republican-controlled US Congress is already considering a bill which would slap new sanctions on Iran despite attempts by the Obama administration to hold them off………..http://news.yahoo.com/iran-says-kerry-meeting-important-progress-nuclear-talks-111227558.html
Iran can build 2 nuclear reactors: not in violation of Joint Plan of Action
State Dept: Iran’s New Nuclear Reactors Don’t Violate Joint Plan of Action by TheTower.org Staff | 01.15.15 Iran’s announced construction of two light-water reactors does not violate the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) signed between Iran and the P5+1 nations in November 2013, a State Department official told the Washington Free Beacon today.“We are aware of the announcement and are reviewing the details,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak on record. However, “in general, the construction of light water nuclear reactors is not prohibited by U.N. Security Council resolutions, nor does it violate the JPOA,” the official said. …
“We have been clear in saying that the purpose of the negotiations with Iran is to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program remains exclusively for civilian, peaceful purposes,” the official said. “The talks that we have been engaged in for months involve a specific set of issues relative to closing off all possible pathways to Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb. That remains our focus.”………http://www.thetower.org/1502-state-dept-irans-new-nuclear-reactors-dont-violate-joint-plan-of-action/
Lawsuit against Hinkley Point nuclear power project
Austria prepares lawsuit against Hinkley Point Interfax, By Annemarie Botzki 15 January 2015 Austria is preparing legal action against the European Commission’s decision to allow a price guarantee for EDF’s £34 billion ($51 billion) Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the UK, the Austrian Environmental Ministry confirmed this week.
“The Austrian federal government, with the unanimous support of the Austrian Parliament, is preparing an action for annulment to the Court of Justice of the EU,” ministry spokesperson Julia Puchegger told Interfax.
The commission said on 8 October that the UK’s plans to subsidise the construction and operation of the 3.3 GW plant are in line with EU state aid rules.
The lawsuit – targeted against the EU’s state aid approval – will be filed after publication of the commission’s decision on Hinkley in the Official Journal of the EU, which is not yet available.
“Austria strictly rejects any kind of direct or indirect subsidies to nuclear power, arguing for the complete internalisation of all external costs based on the polluter pays principle,” Puchegger said. “Austria also does not consider nuclear power to be eligible for the European Fund for Strategic Investments [EFSI].”
The EFSI is a €315 billion ($372 billion) package promoted by the new commission, led by Jean-Claude Juncker, that also will invest in energy infrastructure projects…….
Chances of success
“I think that there are good chances for success for a lawsuit,” Reinhard Schanda, a partner at the Vienna-based law firm Sattler & Schanda, told Interfax.
The EU’s environmental and energy aid guidelines for 2014-2020, adopted in July 2014, did not include rules for subsidies for nuclear energy – which are assessed on a case-by-case basis by the commission’s Directorate General for Competition.
According to Schanda, the commission is likely to have argued in its decision – so far unpublished – that the Euratom treaty provides the basis for its decision.
“It remains to be seen whether an EU objective of common interest can derive from the Euratom treaty,” Schanda told Interfax………../ http://interfaxenergy.com/gasdaily/article/15008/austria-prepares-lawsuit-against-hinkley-point
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