The ill health legacy of nuclear testing
The legacy of nuclear testing
Physicians project that some 2.4 million people worldwide will eventually die from cancers due to atmospheric nuclear tests conducted between 1945 and 1980.
Since the dawn of the atomic age in July 1945, nuclear weapons have been tested on more than 2,000 occasions – in the atmosphere, underground and underwater. The toll on human health and the environment has been staggering. Today many of us carry in our bodies radioactive substances from the fallout of nuclear testing, increasing our risk of developing cancer. Much of the Earth’s surface has been contaminated at some point with radioactive particles. Nuclear testing enables nations to increase the lethality of their nuclear forces.
Nuclear test sites
Nuclear tests have been carried out at more than 60 locations around the globe, often on the lands of indigenous and minority peoples, far away from those who made the decisions to conduct them. While some test sites have been virtually uninhabited, others have been densely populated. The tests have irradiated people working on the programmes, the downwind and downstream communities, and the whole global population. The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War has estimated that roughly 2.4 million people will eventually die as a result of the atmospheric nuclear tests conducted between 1945 and 1980, which were equal in force to 29,000 Hiroshima bombs.
A nuclear test ban
Public concern in the 1950s about the health and environmental impacts of nuclear testing, including its effect on mothers’ milk and babies’ teeth, led to the negotiation in 1963 of a treaty banning atmospheric and underwater nuclear tests. A comprehensive nuclear test ban, covering underground tests, was negotiated in 1996. Although the latter treaty has not yet entered into legal force, full-scale nuclear testing has largely come to halt. However, a number of countries continue to test their nuclear weapons sub-critically………..http://www.icanw.org/the-facts/catastrophic-harm/the-legacy-of-nuclear-testing/
Miami-Dade County threatened by excessively saline water, due to Turkey Point nuclear plants
Nuclear Plant Threatens Miami-Dade’s Water. Mayor Says, ‘This Isn’t Flint’Updated March 10, 2016 [includes audio] npr, GREG ALLEN 10 Mar 16 A study shows excessive saltwater from Florida Power and Light’s nuclear plant is threatening Biscayne Bay and the aquifer that supplies much of Miami’s water “…….
India’s Prime Minister Modi in the grip of the global nuclear salesmen
PM’s recent visits to France, Russia and Japan India Infoline News Service | Mumbai | March 10, 2016
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visits to France, Russia and Japan were aimed to bring in socio-economic and scientific development particularly in the field of atomic energy
Strong opposition to uranium mining in Kuannersuaq, Greenland
We are strongly opposed to plans to exploit minerals with uranium reserves at Kuannersuaq, Narsaq http://arcticjournal.com/press-releases/2204/we-are-strongly-opposed-plans-exploit-minerals-uranium-reserves-kuannersuaq We are strongly opposed to plans to exploit minerals with uranium reserves at Kuannersuaq, Eric Jensen, Nuka David SørensenMarch 9, 2016 By The Arctic Journal Information to citizens concerning the plans for exploitation of mineral deposits with uranium and exploitation of uranimium by Kuannersuaq at Narsaq is not sufficient and we demand that there should be a referendum on the plans for exploitation of mineral resources with uranium content. Therefore we require that plans for exploitation of mineral resources with uranium content and exploitation of uranium and all the decisions concerning these must be stopped.
By requiring that plans for exploitation of mineral resources with uranium content and exploitation of uranmium by Kuannersuaq at Narsaq temporarily stopped, we have begun planning of demonstrations against these plans on April 8, 2016, from 12:00 in the towns of Narsaq, Qaqortoq, Nuuk, Tasiilaq , Ilulissat, Qeqertarsuaq and in the settlements Qassiarsuk and Narsarsuaq. We have the following arguments against the plans for the exploitation of mineral resources with uranium content and exploitation of uranium:
- No sufficient information has been submitted regarding the potential impacts on people, the environment and wildlife, if an open mine is to be opened at Kuannersuaq;
- Citizens are not informed with clear information printed in Greenlandic concerning the plans for the exploitation of mineral resources containing uranium and exploitation of uranium.
We require the following information from the Greenland Government on plans for use of mineral resources from Kuannersuit:
1. What impacts can an open pit mine on the top of Kunnersuaq have on people’s health and the environment?
2. How can dust with different radioactive substances from the exploitation of raw materials from the mountain all year round be avoided?
3. What plans are there to ensure that waste from the mine to be thrown in the lake does not pollute the environment?
4. What can the waste from the mine placed into the lake have of impacts?
5. Is there sufficient space to the amount of waste in the lake?
6. According to the latest survey, only very small amounts of uranium, how credible are these compared to Risø’s studies?
7. How will you ensure the credibility of the EIA report as yet been presented publicly?
8. How ready is Greenland to store waste / tailings containing uranium mining and exploitation for many years without polluting?
9. There are not taken into account the next coming generations who will inherit it all?
Everybody is welcome to participate in the demonstrations on April 8 from pm. 12:00 at the following towns Narsaq, Qaqortoq, Nuuk, Tasiilaq, Ilulissat, Qeqertarsuaq, Qassiarsuk, Narsarsuaq and possible. Elsewhere.
Photo Book – Wilderness to Wasteland: the downfall of a nuclear city
David T. Hanson: Wilderness to Wasteland Published by Taverner Press
Foreword by Joyce Carol Oates. Introduction by David T. Hanson. Afterword by Miles Orvell.For 30 years, David T. Hanson (born 1948) has made photographs that are widely celebrated for their powerful depictions of the American landscape and its dramatic transformation and despoilment by humans. His newest collection, Wilderness to Wasteland,presents four series of previously unpublished and unexhibited photographs from Hanson’s early work, made between 1982 and 1987. Atomic City documents the former nuclear boomtown in Idaho, site of the world’s first nuclear power plant and first reactor meltdown. The Richest Hill on Earth is a study of the vast copper mines, housing and surrounding wasteland of Butte, Montana. The eponymous series is a dynamic group of aerial and ground-view photographs of hazardous waste sites, while the final series, Twilight in the Wilderness, comprises spectacular night views of industrial sites for power production. Together, these photographs constitute a haunting meditation on a ravaged landscape.
Featured image is reproduced from David T. Hanson: Wilderness to Wasteland.
Malfunction at Taiwan nuclear power station. Anti nuclear demonstration for March 12
Malfunction triggers nuclear plant closure By John Liu ,The China Post March 11, 2016, TAIPEI, Taiwan — A safety mechanism triggered by a high level of feed water shut down one of the two reactors in the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant — or the First Nuclear Power Plant — on Thursday, the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower, 台電) said. The exact cause of the incident is still under investigation, Taipower said, while stressing that there had been no radioactive leak.
At 1:10 p.m., the safety mechanism reportedly caused a steam turbine freeze, and then the boiling water reactor’s automatic shutdown……..
Anti-Nuclear Demonstration to Take Place
Many in Taiwan still oppose the use of nuclear power. An anti-nuclear march has been staged for this coming weekend on March 12. It will mark the sixth large-scale demonstration of such a kind since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Residents along Taiwan’s north coast, where the First, Second and Fourth Nuclear Power Plants are located, are inviting members of the public to their neighborhoods, not only to understand the natural and human landscapes there, but also to better understand why nuclear abolition would be good for the area.
Due to the facilities’ older parts and components, there have been more malfunctions in the First and Second Nuclear Power Plants, the Green Citizens’ Action Alliance (綠色公民行動聯盟) said, adding that the power plants ought to be retired without delay.
Lin Chuan-neng (林全能), head of the Economics Ministry’s Bureau of Energy (能源局), said that whether the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant will be put into service hinges on the state of power use in the next three years. It may be decided by a public vote, Lin said………http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2016/03/11/460395/Malfunction-triggers.htm
No real fix in sight for Fukushima’s wrecked nuclear power station
A Long Road Ahead For Fukushima’s Crippled Nuclear Plant [Video] http://www.ibtimes.com/long-road-ahead-fukushimas-crippled-nuclear-plant-video-2334077 BY REUTERS ON 03/10/16 Thousands of workers at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi are still working to contain the damage, five years after the country’s worst nuclear disaster. Natasha Howitt reports. Japan’s worst nuclear disaster took place on March 11, 2011: A 10-meter high tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9 earthquake, crashed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, causing multiple meltdowns.
Now, five years on, efforts to contain the damage are still ongoing.Thousands of workers are involved. plant operator Tepco says they still don’t know how bad the situation is at three of the fourcrippled reactors. Akira Ono, the chief of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, said, “It is kind of difficult to say how much we have achieved in terms of percentage, but thinking of the project in mountain climbing terms, If the peak is the 10th station, then, we have probably just passed the first station. ”
Water is needed to keep the clean up going, but the tanks storing the contaminated water are almost full.
There’s a danger that surrounding groundwater may become radioactive too.
Japan is seeking international advice, but decommissioning the reactors is still expected to take 30 to 40 years, and cost tens of billions of dollars.
Japn now has only one nuclear station in operation
Japan Is Down To One Nuclear Power Plant, Gizmodo, BRYAN LUFKIN 10 Mar 16 Japan has closed one of its two remaining operational nuclear plants. The shutdown comes just days before the fifth anniversary of a catastrophic earthquake that triggered a tsunami and the biggest nuclear meltdown since Chernobyl.
On Wednesday, a Japanese court ordered the shutdown of Takahaka Nuclear Plant in western Japan, citing poor safety measures. This same plant was restarted back in January after it was shut down post-Fukushima, along with the rest of Japan’s nuclear reactors. The swift re-shutdown hints at just how divisive and worrying nuclear energy has become in Japan.
The court said Takahaka’s reactors never should have been rebooted in the first place, citing “points of concern in accident prevention, emergency response plans and the formulation of earthquake models”. The reboot was problematic: a mere week afterwards, radioactive water started leaking from a pipe at the facility, while one reactor suddenly shut down with no explanation, the New York Times reports.
Of the 43 nuclear reactors in Japan, only two at that one remaining plant are still operational: they’re at Kyushu Electric Power’s Sendai plant, on the southern tip of the archipelago. It was restarted back in August………
t among widespread public protest, Wednesday’s court ruling might be a welcome development among citizens who fear another megaquake and meltdown. Nuclear is a clean and powerful energy source, sure — but when it comes to power plants, Mother Nature can make this manmade fuel a very dangerous thing. http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/03/japan-is-down-to-one-nuclear-power-plant/
Japan Diary 2016, Fukushima+5, Part 5. We Are All Hibakusha: Fission Never Results in Peaceful Atoms!
A Japanese court this week ordered the shutdown of two reactors at Takahama, leaving Japan with only two reactors (at Sendai) currently operating five years after the onset of the Fukushima disaster.
“All my life I have tried to find the truth, and make it beautiful.” – Sting
It never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful people I meet in this work. Every stop on this tour is populated by exceptional hearts and minds. It reminds me of a woman I met during the years working to stop the US Department of Energy from selectively targeting Native Lands for nuclear waste. (Okay; the 1990’s round of that!) We were at an event at the Mole Lake Indian Reservation in Wisconsin. She was from the Western Shoshone Nation, home of the proposed Yucca Mountain Dump. She said she was “new” to nuclear issues. Welcoming her, I said, “this is a…
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Proposed Dumping of 200 tonnes of German Nuclear Waste on America – Did the US Mislead People on the Amount? Hidden in Plain Sight? “Jein”, as Germans Say – Oppose Dumping of 200 tonnes German Nuclear Waste by 11.59 pm Eastern Friday
Why was Obama always more wildly popular in Germany than in America?
So, did the US mislead everyone about the amount of German Nuclear waste that they want to import to dump, and probably bury, in America? As Germans would say “Jein” – yes and no. While the document leads one to believe that it is “only” one tonne, rather than 200, the truth lies in the DOE text – kinda, sorta – if one knows how to look. Supposedly, US HEU comprised 1 gram of the 200 gram nuclear fuel balls for Pebble Bed reactors. However, there is sound reason to suspect that even this is not US origin, but rather German, Dutch, or British.
A probable final destination of German nuclear waste, according to the US DOE, is WCS in West Texas. While it is concrete lined, the concrete will crack due to wet-dry expansion and contraction of…
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March 10 Energy News
Science and Technology:
¶ Estimates from the Oxford Martin Future of Food Program published in The Lancet say changes in diets and bodyweight from reduced crop productivity could kill more than 500,000 adults in 2050. Reduced fruit and vegetable intake could cause twice as many deaths as under-nutrition. [CleanTechnica]
‘What do I water next…’ by Dennis Jarvis, via Flickr
World:
¶ SkyPower and Sachigo Lake First Nation have collaborated to develop a multitude of utility-scale solar photovoltaic projects in Ontario. The partnership is in line with the Ontario Ministry of Energy’s mandate to involve First Nation and Métis communities in new projects. [Power Technology]
¶ The International Renewable Energy Agency says 45% of China’s power plants rely on fresh water and are located in areas of high water stress. Scaling up renewable energy and introducing improved plant cooling technologies can reduce water-intensity by up to 42%…
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March 9 Energy News
World:
¶ Scotrenewables is trying out a turbine that looks like a yellow submarine. The 35-meter-long device was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast, best known as the birthplace of the ill-fated Titanic. The device is considered to be unlikely to have effects on sea life. [Deutsche Welle]
Scotrenewables turbine
¶ Until recently, virtually the only choice available to developers looking to build under the Australian government’s renewable energy target was wind energy. That is now changing. Within a year or two, large-scale solar farms may be able to compete with wind energy on costs. [CleanTechnica]
¶ A new 767-kW solar power project was recently completed in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, marking the latest undertaking performed by the United Arab Emirates-Pacific Partnership Fund. The fund is a $50 million initiative managed by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company. [PV-Tech]
The…
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“Simple country folk” become Australia’s anti nuclear waste dump activists
By LOUISE EDDY March 9, 2016, The past three months have seen three unlikely environmental advocates embark on a journey that has taken them all the way to Canberra and the halls of power.
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Crescent Dunes Concentrating Solar Plant Begins Producing Electricity
From the US Energy Info Administration:
Crescent Dunes concentrating solar plant begins producing electricity
MARCH 3, 2016
Crescent Dunes Solar Energy, a 110 megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power (CSP) electricity plant, began full operation in February, according to its press release. Crescent Dunes uses an energy storage system that developers expect will be able to store enough thermal energy to generate electricity for up to 10 hours after sunset or on cloudy days when direct sunlight is unavailable.
Through December 2015, CSP made up 8% of total U.S. solar electric generating capacity, while utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) made up 53%, and distributed solar PV made up 38%. Solar thermal electricity power plants differ from PV technology, which uses solar cells to convert direct and diffuse sunlight directly into electricity. Solar thermal plants rely on direct sunlight to focus the sun’s heat energy onto collectors. Most of the earlier utility-scale CSP…
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So much for value for money
One has to despair sometimes at the ineptitude of politicians and their inability to listen to others. I was reading today the letters page of my Engineers journal and one of the contributors was telling about how back in 1987 he tried to explain to his MP the flaws in Tory plans to privatise the UK energy industry. That MP was none other than John Major, who could not grasp the concept that a private company will not invest in a new power station unless they have a strong financial incentive to do so, i.e. privatisation will lead to either higher bills or no new powers stations, or perhaps both. But of course John Major knew better didn’t he, why privatisation always leads to lower bills….doesn’t it!…oh wait no they’ve gone up massively!
And fast forward to our time. Amber Rudd/Osborne (depending on who you consider to…
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1 This Month
23 April – WEBINAR – Why new nuclear reactors are the wrong tools for decarbonization Thursday, April 23 • 1 AM – 2 AM AEST
World Nuclear Power. Reactors 1951-2026, 75 Years of Nuclear Power.
Interactive Map– https://dv.worldnuclearreport.org/
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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