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17% of Japanese won’t buy foodstuffs from Fukushima

Nearly One in Five Japanese Reluctant to Buy Fukushima Food About 17% of Japanese consumers remain cautious about buying food produced in Fukushima prefecture, according to a twice-yearly survey carried out by the Consumer Affairs Agency following the Fukushima nuclear accident……http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/03/11/nearly-one-in-five-japanese-reluctant-to-buy-fukushima-food/

March 11, 2015 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

2020 renewable energy goals already achieved in 3 European countries

Three European countries have already hit their 2020 renewable energy goals, Quartz 11 Mar 15  In 2010, the European Union set a goal of producing 20% of its total energy from renewable sources by 2020. The latest figures show that the union as a whole reached the 15% mark in 2013. But the combined figure includes some countries already exceeding their targets, while others lag far behind.Three out of the 28 EU member states have surpassed their 2020 goals. Sweden had one of the most ambitious goals, planning to produce 49% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. It’s already gone further than that, with 52.1% from renewable sources in 2013. Bulgaria and Estonia also are producing more than they had been targeting, five years ahead of schedule.

Lithuainia has hit its 23% target, while Romania and Italy are within half a percentage point of theirs.Some countries, like Norway, have goals way above the collective 20%, and are getting close to achieving them. And some countries do particularly well in certain technologies, like wind power in Denmark……..http://qz.com/359415/three-european-countries-have-already-hit-their-2020-renewable-energy-goals/

March 11, 2015 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Nobel-winner Kenzaburo Oe urges Japan to quit nuclear power

Nobel-winner Oe: Japan should follow Germany, quit nuclear, Yahoo News  By MARI YAMAGUCHI 10 Mar 15   TOKYO (AP) — Nobel-winning author Kenzaburo Oe said Tuesday that Japan’s push to restart some nuclear reactors following the Fukushima disaster could lead to another crisis, and urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to follow Germany’s example and phase out atomic energy.

Oe’s remarks to reporters came a day after visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had decided to end her country’s use of nuclear energy by 2022 because the Fukushima crisis convinced her of its risks…….

Oe, 80, said his life’s final work is to strive for a nuclear-free world.

“We must not leave the problem of nuclear plants for the younger generation,” he said.

The winner of the Nobel literature prize in 1994, Oe has campaigned for peace and anti-nuclear causes, particularly since the Fukushima crisis, and has often appeared in rallies. http://news.yahoo.com/nobel-winner-oe-japan-germany-quit-nuclear-111137853.html

March 11, 2015 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Pakistan earthquake prone, non signatory to NPT -but China is building nuclear reactors there

Buy-China-nukes-1flag-pakistanChina Builds Nuclear Reactors in Earthquake-Prone Pakistan by Nick Cunningham Oil Price.com e, 10 March 2015 

China has decided to defy international norms and build new nuclear reactors in Pakistan.

While the U.S. and Europe see stagnant growth for commercial nuclear power, the same is not true in Asia. China is not only building nuclear reactors at home, but it is exporting its technology abroad. Of particular concern is its construction of nuclear reactors in Pakistan. China helped build two reactors at Chashma, which came online in 2000 and 2011 respectively. More recently, it has decided to double the size of the Chashma power plant, with two additional reactors under construction. And it is also constructing a new nuclear power plant near Karachi, using China’s next generation ACP-1000 design.

But China’s plans in Pakistan are facing global criticism.

The problem is that Pakistan is not a signatory of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), which should disqualify it for any international help in building nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a coalition of nuclear technology exporting countries who have banded together to create guidelines and norms around the sale of nuclear technology in order to ensure its safe use while guarding against the spread of nuclear weapons capabilities. One of the core tenets of the NSG is to not trade nuclear technology to countries that have not signed up to the NPT. Pakistan is one of the world’s four remaining holdouts to the NPT (the other three are India, Israel, and South Sudan).

That is why China’s decision to build nuclear reactors in Pakistan has received criticism. As a member of the NSG, China is defying the guidelines on nuclear trade. China says that its promise to Pakistan predates its 2004 accession to the suppliers group……..http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/China-Builds-Nuclear-Reactors-in-Earthquake-Prone-Pakistan.html

March 11, 2015 Posted by | China, Pakistan, safety | 2 Comments

Chinese physcst points out the danger of inland nuclear power plants

CPPCC eyes inland nuke power  By Cao Siqi Source:Global Times 2015-3-11 :”………..He Zuoxiu, a theoretical physicist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, argued against the proposal.

He Zuoxiu told the Global Times that an inland nuclear power plant may raise bigger safety concerns, as accidents could occur closer to populous areas.

Compared with coastal plants, inland nuclear plants have more complicated requirements where location and geological conditions are concerned, and authorities must take population growth into careful account, as well as emergency evacuation and radioactive exhaust emissions, said the physicist.

He Zuoxiu added that such projects would carry with them tremendous potential danger, which in turn necessitates thorough consideration prior to any construction.

March 11, 2015 Posted by | China, safety | Leave a comment

Radiation levels posing cancer risks on fourth anniversary of Fukushima nuclear accident

Fukushima disaster: Radiation levels posing cancer risks on fourth anniversary of earthquake, ABC News 11 Mar 15 (includes audio)  By North Asia correspondent Matthew Carney “……About 120,000 people still cannot return their homes because of high radiation levels, but the issue of long-term health implications like cancer are causing the greatest concern and controversy in Japan.

Before the disaster, there was just one to two cases of thyroid cancers in a million Japanese children but now Fukushima has more than 100 confirmed or suspected cases, having tested about 300,000 children.

Megumi Muto’s daughter Nana has undergone scans to determine if the lumps in her thyroid glands have grown. In a small number of cases, these lumps can develop into cancer.

Ms Muto is convinced the growths were caused by exposure to high radiation levels after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown in March 2011.

“I feel angry. I think the authorities hide the real dangers and now many more children are being diagnosed,” she said……..

credible scientists said the spike in thyroid cases was significant and had to be thoroughly investigated.

It is expected that thyroid cancers could turn up about four to five years after a nuclear disaster.

In Chernobyl about 6,000 children contracted thyroid cancer but the radiation released there was greater than in Fukushima.

Ms Muto said her daughter and son, like many other children, had not been the same since experiencing the Fukushima fallout.

“They had rashes on their bodies then nose bleeds. My son’s white cells have decreased and they both have incredible fatigue,” she said.

“They may not have cancer now but they both have multiple nodules around their thyroids. I’m really worried.”

Ms Muto is part of about 100 Fukushima residents taking the local and central governments to court.

They claim both governments failed to protect the children and they do not trust what the government or TEPCO, the operator of the crippled nuclear plant, are telling them about radiation levels and safety.

So they are conducting their own radiation tests. Near a school in Fukushima city they record three microsieverts an hour, around 100 times the rate in Tokyo.

Sumio Konno has worked as a engineer at nuclear plants for 29 years and said the levels needed to be investigated.

“I have to investigate and inform the public of the facts, that is why I have become one of the plaintiffs of the court cases,” Mr Konno said.

“They’re still not decontaminating areas where children live or near schools, even after four years.”………http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-11/fukushima-radiation-levels-high-four-years-after-disaster/6297718

March 11, 2015 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Financial meltdown looming for South Africa’s state-owned nu­clear com­pany, Necsa

Nuclear body faces financial meltdown Pelind­aba brass scram­ble to pay sci­en­tists   JAN-JAN JOU­BERT jou­bertj@sun­day­times.co.za

SOUTH Africa’s be­lea­guered state-owned nu­clear com­pany, Necsa, has for the first time ad­mit­ted to fi­nan­cial strain, but vows to keep pay­ing staff salaries on time de­spite “the ac­tual cash in­flow not be­ing re­alised as per plan”.

Ac­cord­ing to leaked in­ter­nal doc­u­men­ta­tion, Necsa will not be able to pay its al­most 2 000 staff this month un­less Fi­nance Min­is­ter Nh­lanhla Nene’s cash­strapped Na­tional Trea­sury can find an ex­tra R212-mil­lion by March 31……..

Ac­cord­ing to the leaked doc­u­ments, Necsa has failed to pay sup­pli­ers since Novem­ber, de­spite Pres­i­dent Ja­cob Zuma’s pol­icy di­rec­tive that the state pay all its sup­pli­ers within 30 days of ser­vices ren­dered.

The doc­u­ments also claim Necsa is un­able to pay its au­tho­ri­sa­tion fees to the Na­tional Nu­clear Reg­u­la­tor, plac­ing the ac­cred­i­ta­tion of its nu­clear sci­en­tists at risk, and rais­ing the spec­tre of a skills ex­o­dus on the eve of the planned nu­clear build pro­gramme.

The cur­rent ex­pec­ta­tion is that Rus­sia will build new nu- clear re­ac­tors, and that Necsa staff’s skills could con­trib­ute to man­u­fac­tur­ing the fuel.

If not, fuel will have to be con­tin­u­ally im­ported at great cost from other ma­jor pro­duc­ers such as Rus­sia, rais­ing the con­sumer price of elec­tric­ity even fur­ther………

DA MP and en­ergy spokesman Gor­don Mackay lamented Necsa’s and the reg­u­la­tor’s anger, call­ing for trans­parency in­stead.

“While cor­rup­tion can be dealt with swiftly by re­mov­ing those con­cerned, the long-term cost of mal­ad­min­is­tra­tion is worse as highly skilled scarce staff quit Necsa for greener in­ter­na­tional pas­tures,” he said…….

The DA will raise ur­gent ques­tions in par­lia­ment to clar­ify how Necsa came to find it­self in such a po­si­tion and what can be done to save the sit­u­a­tion…….. ttp://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/sunday-times/20150308/281556584293429/TextView

 

March 11, 2015 Posted by | politics, South Africa | Leave a comment

South Africa: jobs-for-friends among a tightknit clique of government nuclear mandarins

Jobs for pals at state nuclear firm, Mail & Guardian,  06 MAR 2015  LIONEL FAULL A whistle-blower has claimed that the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation created a job for the chief executive’s wife, Ngeniswa Tyobeka. The embattled South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has hired the wife of the chief executive of the National Nuclear Regulator, which polices Necsa’s compliance with stringent safety regulations.

Ngeniswa Tyobeka’s appointment is just one example of a position that “did not exist on the approved Necsa organisational structure”, a Necsa whistle-blower says. It was “unbudgeted and unfunded, which translates into [an] irregular appointment and unauthorised expenditure”.

Both Necsa and the regulator are earmarked to play key roles in the imminent R1-trillion nuclear build programme, the biggest known procurement in South Africa’s history.

The latest allegation of jobs-for-friends among a tightknit clique of government nuclear mandarins raises concerns about decision-makers’ ability to run a process that is in South Africa’s best interests.

Ngeniswa’s appointment as a human resources officer at Necsa places her husband, Bismark Tyobeka, the nuclear regulator’s chief executive, in a difficult position.

It could cloud his judgment when he makes decisions regarding Necsa, from which his wife reportedly draws a R490 000 annual salary.

Ngeniswa was appointed to Necsa last year; her husband has been the head of the regulator since 2013.

The whistle-blower said this week the company’s parlous financial situation, with an apparent shortfall of R82-million this month, is partly a consequence of a “growing salary bill” caused by “unbudgeted and unfunded created [job] vacancies”……..http://mg.co.za/article/2015-03-05-nuclear-frisson-over-jobs-for-mates

March 11, 2015 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, South Africa | Leave a comment

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