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Utah politicians received big donations – now they’re ready to waive the fee for inspecting EnergySolutions radioactive landfill

Radioactive Waste Company Behind Fee-Waiver Bill Is A Big Campaign Contributor http://kuer.org/post/radioactive-waste-company-behind-fee-waiver-bill-big-campaign-contributor#stream/0  By JUDY FAHYS • FEB 19, 2018 

Utah lawmakers seem ready to waive the fee for inspecting EnergySolutions radioactive landfill. A bill to do that — at the top of the list of legislation that Senators could vote on this week — would have taxpayers covering inspection fees for one of the state’s most generous campaign donors, EnergySolutions.

The company has operated the nation’s busiest disposal site for low-level waste for nearly 30 years. It’s also been busy politically.

EnergySolutions has donated more than any other business organization in the past decade except the Utah Realtors Association. It’s given Utah candidates and party committees a total of nearly $1.2 million.

But legislators aren’t talking about campaign donations when they talk about EnergySolutions these days.

“It’s a real star,” said Rep. Stewart Barlow, R-Fruit Heights, who’s just one of the lawmakers who’s been praising EnergySolutions in the Utah Legislature this year.

He’s also one of the politicians who’s received some of the 887 contributionsEnergySolutions has sprinkled into state elections since 2008.

The tally comes from the web site FollowtheMoney.org, which tracks money in politics.

“I mean, EnergySolutions is a great operator,” said Rep. Stephen Handy, R- Layton, during the bill’s committee hearing in the first days of the 2018 General Session.

“I’ve been out there. A lot of us have been out there, and it’s just unfortunate misunderstanding of this term, you know, ‘radioactive’ waste, what that means. And it just gets, you know, really, really, really confusing.”

Handy’s right that low-level waste shouldn’t be confused with fatally radioactive waste, like high-level spent fuel rods.

But waste at EnergySolutions is hazardous enough that nuclear agencies require it to be tracked from cradle-to-grave and beyond. It generally costs the state just under $2 million a year to inspect the mile-square landfill. All or part of that fee would be waived by legislation that’s already passed the House. But statements from lawmakers so far haven’t mentioned that long-term risk and liability.

“Type A, low-radiation, low-level waste,” said Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, on the House floor. “I would hope that we would support this.”

Rep. Doug Sagers, R-Tooele, is one of EnergySolutions’ biggest fans. The company’s big disposal site is located in the Hazardous Waste Zone near his district, and taxes it pays means revenue for state and local government.

“I rise in support of the bill,” he said on the House floor. “I’d like to explain why: From my estimation, EnergySolutions has been an exceptional corporate citizen.”

Sagers has described EnergySolutions as the victim — because it’s paying too much for what it gets from the state.

And, when the state Senate takes up the EnergySolutions bill, so will praise for the big campaign donor.

February 22, 2018 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

In India, groups unite to oppose construction of the atomic power plant at Kovvada

The Hindu 8th Feb 2018, The CPI(M), the Human Rights Forum, and several non-governmental
organisations on Wednesday opposed the proposed visit of the team from
Westinghouse Electric Corporation to India to discuss with the government
the construction of the atomic power plant at Kovvada in Ranasthalam mandal
of the district.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/signature-drive-against-proposed-visit-of-westinghouse-team/article22683259.ece

February 22, 2018 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Japan to support firms that export nuclear power technology

Japan to resume aid for firms’ nuclear power plant exports, Japan Times, 20 Feb 18 Two government-affiliated bodies plan to resume financial support for Japanese companies’ nuclear power plant exports in fiscal 2018 at the earliest, according to informed sources.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance effectively suspended the provision of loans and trade insurance for nuclear plant export deals following the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The planned resumption is in line with the government’s policy of facilitating nuclear plant exports, despite lingering concerns of whether the safety of nuclear power projects will be examined appropriately…….https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/20/business/japan-resume-aid-firms-nuclear-power-plant-exports/#.WoyAk1pubGg

 

February 22, 2018 Posted by | marketing, politics | Leave a comment

Trump Might Bend Nuclear Security Rules To Help Saudi Arabia get nuclear power

Why Trump Might Bend Nuclear Security Rules To Help Saudi Arabia Build Reactors In The Desert, NDTV, 20 Feb 18,  The issue is a test of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and his self-professed bargaining prowess.
World | © 2018 The Washington Post | Steven Mufson, The Washington Post | Updated: February 20, 2018  Next month, Saudi Arabia will announce the finalists of a sweepstakes. The prize? Multibillion-dollar contracts to build a pair of nuclear power reactors in desolate stretches of desert along the Persian Gulf.

For Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the reactors are a matter of international prestige and power, a step toward matching the nuclear program of Shia rival Iran while quenching some of the kingdom’s domestic thirst for energy.

For the Trump administration, the contest poses a thorny choice between promoting U.S. companies and fighting nuclear proliferation. If the administration wants to boost the chances of a U.S. consortium led by Westinghouse, it might need to bend rules designed to limit nuclear proliferation in an unstable part of the world. That could heighten security risks and encourage other Middle Eastern countries to follow suit.

“If the Saudis were to get an agreement without restrictions, it would set a dangerous precedent in the region and [be] a significant break with American nuclear policy for the last 50 years,” said Jon Wolfsthal, a consultant on nuclear weapons who was a director for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Security Council under President Barack Obama.

The issue is a test of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and his self-professed bargaining prowess. Trump, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry have made pilgrimages to Riyadh to cozy up to the young crown prince and win big contracts for U.S. firms. Yet little has come to fruition.

Now, as Mohammed prepares to visit the United States in March, the Saudi deadline looms for Westinghouse, which is winding its way through bankruptcy and is eager to find customers for its much-praised AP1000 design. Without a diplomatic deal, Westinghouse and a South Korean group, which uses U.S. parts and technology and would be bound by the same rules, could be sidelined in favor of Russian or Chinese state companies.

The key rules governing nuclear sales to Saudi Arabia are spelled out in a document known as a 123 agreement, named after a section in the 1954 Atomic Energy Act.

The United States has 123 agreements with 23 countries, Taiwan and Euratom, a group of 27 nations. The 123 agreement for Saudi Arabia imposes limits on uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent fuel, both of which could be used to produce material for nuclear bombs.

Saudi Arabia has argued that it should be free to mine and enrich its own uranium deposits, as long as it abides by the international Non-Proliferation Treaty,which bars the diversion of materials to a weapons program. The China National Nuclear Corp. has signed preliminary agreements with the Saudis to explore nine potential uranium mining areas. Former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal told Reuters in December that Saudi Arabia would “have the same right as the other members of the NPT, including Iran.”

Mohammed, who harbors ambitions for an invigorated, more diverse Saudi economy, invited foreign firms to submit proposals last fall. In mid-November, executives from the world’s five leading nuclear reactor design and construction firms – including the Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse – made presentations to Saudi officials.

Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy and natural resources minister, told Reuters on Dec. 20 that he aims to sign contracts by year’s end.

The push to provide nuclear power to Saudi Arabia has divided U.S. policymakers.

Henry Sokolski, the executive director of the nonprofit Nonproliferation Policy Education Center who served in President George H.W. Bush’s Pentagon, asked, “How do we feel about the stability of the kingdom? The reactors are bolted to the ground for a minimum of 40 years and a maximum of 80 years. That’s enough for the whole world to change.”

But others say that if the United States doesn’t build the reactors, then Russia’s Rosatom or the China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Group will, providing fewer safeguards against proliferation and eroding U.S. diplomatic strength in the region.

“I would prefer to have America’s nuclear industry in Saudi Arabia than to have Russian or China’s, so I think it’s useful that we’re reengaging with the Saudis. We should try to get the best restraints on enrichment and reprocessing, including a ban for some significant length of time, say 20 or 25 years,” said Robert Einhorn, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former State Department adviser for nonproliferation and arms control. “We should show some flexibility.”

The need to build nuclear reactors in Saudi Arabia, which has the world’s largest petroleum reserves, isn’t obvious. The kingdom says it wants to curtail the burning of oil to generate electricity at home. Doing so would free up more oil for exports, the kingdom’s main source of revenue.

Saudi electricity consumption doubled between 2005 and 2015. During the peak summer months, when temperatures soar past 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the kingdom burns about 700,000 barrels of oil a day for air conditioning. Add industrial and transportation use, and Saudi Arabia’s domestic crude consumption has neared 3 million barrels a day, more than a quarter of its total output.

Solar is another option. The Saudis could also tap its plentiful supplies of natural gas, much of which is flared and wasted.

Prestige is another lure for Saudi Arabia. Its smaller oil-rich neighbor, the United Arab Emirates bought four South Korean-model nuclear reactors now under construction.

“If ever there was a place that could take care of own energy needs without nuclear, it’s the UAE,” said F. Gregory Gause, a professor of international affairs at Texas A&M University. “I think it becomes a prestige thing, like international airports.”

But the UAE also signed a 123 agreement in January 2009 that is called the gold standard. It agreed not to enrich or reprocess – although a passage says it could reconsider if others in the region start doing so. It plans to buy uranium from the United States and ship spent fuel to Britain or France for reprocessing.

For Saudi Arabia, the UAE’s gold standard set a high bar. “During the Obama administration, we were at an impasse,” said Gary Samore, a former White House arms control coordinator now at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “We wanted them to make a commitment similar to what Abu Dhabi did. We never overcame that issue in our negotiations.”

………… In the end, the fate of the U.S. proposal will circle back to the political and diplomatic efforts to forge a 123 agreement.
Saudi Arabia “would like us to cave to some degree on some elements of the 123 agreement,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. But, he added, “the fewer Mideast nuclear weapons states, the better. And the fewer nondemocratic nuclear states, the better. And the fewer states where I can’t predict 10 years down the road what their attitudes will be toward the United States, the fewer of those countries that have nuclear weapons the better.” https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/why-trump-might-bend-nuclear-security-rules-to-help-saudi-arabia-build-reactors-in-the-desert-1815048

February 22, 2018 Posted by | politics international, Saudi Arabia, USA | Leave a comment

USA preparing for cyber attacks on North Korea

US preparing ‘bloody nose’ cyber attacks on North Korea, Telegraph, UK,  Julian Ryall, Tokyo Danielle Demetriou The United States is drawing up plans for cyber attacks on North Korea in an effort to bring the regime of Kim Jong-Un to heel, according to intelligence sources, as Pyongyang says it is ready for “both dialogue and war” as the Winter Olympics draws to a close.

Washington’s potential plans for a series of “bloody nose” attacks on targets in North Korea, as revealed by The Telegraph, could focus on digital rather than conventional warfare, sources have suggested.

A cyber assault could cripple Pyongyang’s online communications and ability to control its military, causing huge disruption but avoiding the loss of life. It may also assuage concerns that a conventional attack against missile sites or nuclear facilities by the US could trigger a massive counter-strike by Kim Jong-Un.

Quoting senior US intelligence sources, Foreign Policy magazine said there has been a “nearly unprecedented scramble inside the agencies responsible for spying and cyber warfare” aimed at the Korean Peninsula.

In the last six months, the US has been covertly laying the groundwork for cyber attacks that would be routed through South Korea and Japan, where the US has extensive military facilities. The preparations include 

installing fibre cables into the region and setting up remote bases and listening posts from where hackers will attempt to gain access to North Korea’s version of the Internet, which is walled off from the rest of the world.

Another official told the magazine that a large part of the US spying and cyber warfare capability is being refocused on North Korea, including analysis of signals intelligence, overhead imagery and geospatial intelligence
………. North Korea has reportedly set up a 6,000-strong hacking unit and is strongly suspected of being behind a number of cyberattacks on South Korean banks, media companies and infrastructure, including nuclear power plants, in recent years
As well as gathering intelligence on military, scientific and political developments in the North, US cyber warfare experts are likely to be tasked with accessing the regime’s command-and-control structure in order to interfere with Pyongyang’s ability to communicate with its military and launch counterattacks.

The news of the cyber attack plans comes as North Korea reminded the international community that it was ready for both dialogue and war, as the Winter Olympics draws to a close…….. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/20/us-preparing-bloody-nose-cyber-attacks-north-korea/

February 21, 2018 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

North Korea preparing to launch cyber attacks

North Korean cyberspies ready to launch mass cyberattacks: Report, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/north-korean-cyber-spies-ready-to-launch-mass-cyberattacks-report/article/2649501  by Tristan Justice | 

A North Korean cyberspy group known as “Reaper” is rapidly expanding its operations and scope of capability posing a global threat to overseas networks, according to a new report from the California cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc.

The group is also identified by FireEye as APT37 and has been active since at least 2012, focusing primarily on the public and private sectors in South Korea. In 2017, the group began attacks on Japan, Vietnam, and the Middle East, according to the report.

FireEye said it had “high confidence” the activities carried out by APT37 are on behalf of the North Korean government and include use of wiper malware and zero-day vulnerabilities, where hackers exploit vulnerabilities in computer software on the same day those vulnerabilities become known, preventing developers from the opportunity to fix problems before they occur.

“Our concern is that this could be used for a disruptive attack rather than a classic espionage mission, which we already know that the North Koreans are regularly carrying out,” FireEye Director of Intelligence Analysis John Hultquist said to the Washington Post.

APT37 joins North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s growing list of hacking units that have been accused of being behind massive cyberattacks in the past, including the group “Lazarus’” hack on Sony Pictures in 2014.

. U.S. officials also blamed the Kim regime for the WannaCry virus last year.

“Ignored, these threats enjoy the benefit of surprise, allowing them to extract significant losses on their victims, many of whom have never previously heard of the actor,” FireEye said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.

 

February 21, 2018 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

China’s nuclear weapons modernisation is relatively small: China not wanting to attack USA

Is China Really Threatening America with Nuclear Weapons? , National Interest, Asia Times, 20 Feb 18 China, according to the Federation of American Scientists, has 270 warheads in its nuclear arsenal.

The Washington-based research group’s estimate has never been challenged by the Pentagon. It compares with an official tally of 4,480 nuclear warheads for the US. Unlike the American side, China also renounces “first use” of nuclear weapons and holds that its ability to retaliate is sufficient to deter attack.

 Why, then, is Beijing’s modernization of its nuclear arsenal — something that Washington is also doing — considered a major security threat requiring a sharp turn in US policy regarding the use of nuclear weapons?

That’s part of the reasoning behind the Pentagon’s 2018 Nuclear Posture Review(NPR) issued on February 2. The document is a benchmark US statement on nuclear policy and is drawn up by new presidents. The Trump administration’s first policy position on the issue focuses on creating new nuclear deterrents to Russia and China, while addressing North Korean and Iranian nuclear ambitions.

……..  critics contend the latest NPR reverses years of bipartisan consensus on the use of US nuclear weapons. The review also gives the go-ahead to develop low-yield tactical nukes and sub-launched cruise missiles in the first roll-out of new US nuclear weapons since the end of the Cold War. It also expands the circumstances under which the US would consider using nukes to include “non-nuclear strategic attacks” such as cyberattacks.

……….Chinese not on nuclear ‘alert’

Gregory Kulacki, the China project manager for the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a Washington-based science advocacy group, argues that Trump’s NPR is surfacing at a time when China isn’t preparing to fight a nuclear war with the US. He says his talks with Chinese nuclear strategists indicate they don’t believe such an attack from the US is possible because the Americans know a sufficient number of Chinese missiles would survive to launch a nuclear counter-strike.

……… China, for its part, has urged the US to drop its “Cold War mentality” and not misread its intentions in modernizing its nuclear forces following the NPR’s release.

Miscalculation leading to war

Kulacki notes in his article that Chinese strategists have one worry: they fear the US might miscalculate by thinking it could escape full nuclear retaliation by using a massive first strike along with an anti-missile shield that can down any Chinese missiles that a pre-emptive attack would miss.

US negotiators, he says, are exacerbating such fears by declining to assure their Chinese counterparts that a US first strike is “off the table.”

 China’s relatively modest nuclear modernization efforts, according to Kulacki, are designed to ensure that enough of its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) can survive a pre-emptive US attack and penetrate US missile defenses.

“In the absence of a no first-use commitment from the United States, these improvements are needed to assure China’s leaders their US counterparts won’t take the risk of attacking China with nuclear weapons,” Kulacki says in his piece………http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/china-really-threatening-america-nuclear-weapons-24565

 

February 21, 2018 Posted by | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Not just Russian but ANY nuclear new-build is a poor choice for South Africa

South Africa’s Electricity Choice, Part 4: The dangers of dealing with Russia, Daily Maverick, ANTON EBERHARD & AMORY LOVINS, SOUTH AFRICA, 19 FEB 2018 

Read parts 1, 2 and 3 of this series here, here and here

        .

Courts may have struck down the nuclear agreement between South Africa and Russia but ministers in the Zuma government have indicated they are not done discussing nuclear power and Russian involvement. This is of major concern to many – not only because of a possible compromise in SA’s national sovereignty and independence but also due to the ulterior motives Russia might have due to its economic troubles and the dubious need to build nuclear power plants despite lacking the capital to finance it.

Procurement and financial risks

South African officials have made a wide range of statements in the past few years about whether the government intends a “fair, transparent and competitive procurement process”, or a process with that form but not its substance (as vendors may expect), or an opaque direct negotiation between the South African government and another government, most likely that of the Russian Federation. During a series of private presidential meetingsover the past seven years, these two countries concluded an unusually strong and specific nuclear agreement. It gave Russia a veto over South Africa’s nuclear co-operation with any other country, enabled Russia to withhold any data it wishes from public scrutiny, exempted Russia from any accident liability and promised Russia favourable tax and financial treatment. While denying favouritism, South Africa did not appear to have offered similar terms to any other potential partner. Though the April 2017 decision of the Western Cape High Court set aside this agreement, officials have continued to imply that a nuclear deal with the Russians is likely……..

 is Russia a credible and reliable financial partner? Its National Wealth Fund, estimated at $72-billion, is under pressure; by early 2015 it was already overextended by $24-billion pledged to finance nuclear exports to four countries. (Those included the Hungarian Paks nuclear deal, whose low-interest loan commitment helped crash Russia’s foreign-trade bank needing an $18-billion bailout.) About another $64-billion would be needed to fulfil other offers already extended. And even that couldn’t go far if more than a handful of deals were like the proposed Bangladeshi Rooppur plant mentioned above – 90% financed ($12-billion) at 2.55 percent annual interest with a 10-year grace period, then an 18-year repayment.

Rosatom, the self-regulated state nuclear enterprise, is led by a former prime minister reporting to President Vladimir Putin and exempted from all normal state controls. Independent experts agree that Rosatom (or any other state entity) would be lucky to build half the 30 additional nuclear projects it’s trying to sell for $300-billion to a dozen more countries including South Africa. Russia’s interest rate in early 2016 was twice (and in an earlier spike, over three times) what any coal-competitive nuclear project would require. The Russian state’s capacity to absorb the spread is quickly vanishing. Russia’s domestic reactor starts halved in 2015; all state nuclear subsidies are to halt in 2016. Yet without those subsidies, “Rosatom wouldn’t complete a single project anywhere”.

Russia needs huge amounts of outside capital to finance its nuclear commitments. …….

Not just Russian but any nuclear new-build is a poor choice for South Africa. It cannot compete with efficiency and renewables, by every relevant measure: cost, timeliness, financing, jobs, economic development, environmental and safety risk, independence, security, abundance of eternally free local energy sources, and the social good of “energy democracy”. These goals support and are advanced by the agenda of “an electricity sector that will deliver, transparently, competitively, reliably and sustainably, the electric services that will power economic growth and improve the welfare of all our people”.

It has come to this: ever more sales-starved nuclear vendors, seeking ever less solvent customers, now offer a risky project the seller can’t finance to a customer who can’t pay – a customer with no need, enchanted by the same nuclear devotees whose broken promises already cost the nation dearly, and with no apparent accountability.

South Africans deserve, and politics or markets will ultimately deliver, reliable and affordable electrical services – enough, for all, for ever. At issue is how much money, time and opportunity for national advancement will be lost before South Africa finally abandons the folly of procuring new nuclear power plants.    https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-02-19-south-africas-electricity-choice-part-4-the-dangers-of-dealing-with-russia/#.WoyRylpubGg

 

February 21, 2018 Posted by | politics, Russia, South Africa | Leave a comment

Chinese and USA officials scuffled over the “nuclear football”

Nuclear football’ scuffle broke out during Donald Trump’s visit to China , ABC News 20 Feb 18 

A scuffle broke out between Chinese and US officials over the “nuclear football” — the briefcase containing the US nuclear launch codes — during a visit to Beijing by US President Donald Trump last year, according to media reports.

Key points:

  • Report says Chinese official tackled to ground
  • Secret Service confirms scuffle but not tackle
  • Chinese not believed to have taken possession of briefcase

US news website Axios said multiple sources confirmed an incident in which Chinese officials tried to block a military aide with the briefcase from following Mr Trump into the Great Hall of the People, despite the aide being required to stay close to the President at all times.

The report said when Mr Trump’s chief of staff Mike Kelly attempted to intervene, a Chinese official tried to grab him before a US Secret Service agent tackled the Chinese official to the ground.

The Secret Service did not initially deny the incident took place, but in a tweet said reports that a host nation official was “tackled” to the ground were “false”.

The federal law enforcement agency later confirmed an incident had taken place……..

The “nuclear football” is a leather briefcase that contains the codes needed to launch a nuclear strike while away from fixed command centres.

It is carried by a rotating group of military officers near the President whenever he is travelling. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-20/scuffle-broke-out-over-nuclear-football-during-trumps-china-trip/9463976

 

February 21, 2018 Posted by | China, incidents | Leave a comment

USA and South Korea will announce plans to renew military drills

US and South Korea to announce plans for military manoeuvres with more than 320,000 troops, Express UK. 20 Feb 18

SOUTH KOREA and the United States will announce plans before April for a postponed joint military drill, South Korea’s defence minister said today. Seoul and Washington had agreed to postpone the regular joint military exercise until after the Winter Olympics being hosted in South Korea, which end on March 18.

After the decision to delay the joint exercise, North Korea  agreed to hold the first official talks with South Korea in more than two years and send athletes to the Winter Games, easing a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes.

Asked when the two countries will hold the postponed drill, Song Young-moo told parliament he and his US counterpart, Jim Mattis, would make an announcement between March 18 and the start of April.

“The exercise was postponed according to the spirit of the Olympics,” Song said.

“We have agreed to uphold the basis until after the Paralympics…and not to confirm nor deny anything regarding what we would do after that until we announce it”………..https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/921486/USA-south-korea-plans-more-military-manoeuvres-north-korea-threat-troops

February 21, 2018 Posted by | South Korea, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Key figures for the seventh anniversary

cropped-IMG_2973.jpg

 

February 17, 2018

Translation by Herve Courtois from the ACRO article

http://fukushima.eu.org/chiffres-cles-septieme-anniversaire/

All the figures quoted in this article are from TEPCO and the Japanese government. We can safely assume the true figures to be somehow higher, as we know from the past 7 years that TEPCO and the Japanese government have never been straightforward with their figures.

 

As we approach the seventh anniversary of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, here are some key figures as they appear in the media and official websites. This article will be updated as they appear.

Situation of the reactors

The work is aimed primarily at securing the damaged reactors that are still threatening. Nearby, the dose rates are such that the work time of the workers must be very limited, which complicates the work.

Reactor # 4

The reactor vessel was empty on March 11, 2011 so there was no core melting, but a hydrogen explosion destroyed the reactor building. Since December 2014, the reactor fuel pool has been emptied and work is stopped because it is no longer threatening. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2014/1246703_5892.html

The few dose rates available inside the reactor building are here expressed in mSv / h, knowing that the limits are in mSv / year. They date from 2016. www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/surveymap/images/sv-u4-20160630-e.pdf

Reactor # 3

There was a core meltdown and a hydrogen explosion destroyed the reactor building. All top debris were removed using remotely controlled gear. A new building is being finished. Fuel removal is expected to begin this year and end in 2019.

The first images taken inside the containment led to a revision of the core fusion scenario.

http://photo.tepco.co.jp/en/date/2017/201707-e/170721-01e.html

http://photo.tepco.co.jp/en/date/2017/201707-e/170722-01e.html

www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2017/images/handouts_170722_01-e.pdf

The few dose rates available inside the reactor building are here expressed in mSv / h, knowing that the limits are in mSv / year. They date from 2016.

www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/surveymap/images/sv-u3-20160630-e.pdf

There would be between 188 and 394 tonnes of corium in this reactor, with a nominal value of 364 tonnes for reactor No. 3. The latter contains MOx fuel, which contains plutonium. To know more:

http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=739

Reactor # 2

There was a melting of the core, but the reactor building is whole. TEPCO has not started removing used fuel from the pool. The company sent several robots into the containment to locate the corium, the mixture of molten fuel and debris.

Several series of images have been put online by the company. Those taken in January 2017 were analyzed and put back online in December 2017. There is a gaping hole just below the vessel, most likely due to the passage of molten fuel.

www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2017/images/handouts_171130_01-e.pdf

Those obtained in January 2018 at the bottom of the containment enclosure show what TEPCO thinks is corium and fragments of fuel assembly.

http://photo.tepco.co.jp/en/date/2018-e/201801-e/180119-01e.html

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/library/archive-e.html?video_uuid=uikti9fd&catid=61785

www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2018/images/handouts_180119_01-e.pdf

Dose rates inside the containment enclosure are lethal within minutes. The latest results published following the January 2018 exploration are quite surprising: not higher near what TEPCO thinks is corium, but higher outside.

www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2018/images/handouts_180201_01-e.pdf

The few dose rates available inside the reactor building are here expressed in mSv / h, knowing that the limits are in mSv / year. They date from 2016.

www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/surveymap/images/sv-u2-20160630-e.pdf

There would be between 189 and 390 tonnes of corium in this reactor, with a nominal value of 237 tonnes. To know more:

http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=739

Reactor # 1

There was a core meltdown and a hydrogen explosion destroyed the reactor building. This building was covered by a new structure in 2011, which was completely dismantled in November 2016. TEPCO began removing the debris from the upper part of the reactor, then rebuilding a new structure to empty the pool. fuels.

The dose rates inside the reactor building are here expressed in mSv / h, knowing that the limits are in mSv / year. They date from 2016.

www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/surveymap/images/sv-u1-20160630-e.pdf

There would be between 232 and 357 tons of corium in this reactor, with a nominal value of 279 tons. To know more:

http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=739

Reactors 5 and 6

Reactors 5 and 6 were partially unloaded on March 11, 2011, and a backup diesel generator was still functional, which prevented the core from melting. These reactors are now fully unloaded and will be dismantled.

Contamination of the plant

The last dose rates on the plant site published by TEPCO are from February 2017:

Groundwater also remains contaminated. Figures to come.

 

 

Contaminated water

The fuel that has melted and drilled the vessels must always be cooled. To this end, TEPCO injects 72 m3 of water per day into each of the reactors 1, 2 and 3 for this purpose. This makes a total of 216 m3 per day. This water is highly contaminated by contact with the molten fuel and infiltrates the basements of the reactor and turbine buildings where it mixes with the groundwater that infiltrates it.

www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu18_e/images/180205e0101.pdf

At the beginning of the disaster, the infiltration amounted to about 400 m3 per day, which became contaminated and had to be stored in tanks. Inversely, the water of the basements, highly contaminated, leaked towards the groundwater then the ocean.

To reduce groundwater seepage, TEPCO pumps upstream of reactors before this water is contaminated and releases it directly into the ocean. It has also built a barrier all along the shoreline and pumps groundwater at the foot of the reactors. Part of this is partially decontaminated and released into the ocean. Another part, too contaminated, is mixed with the pumped water in the basements of the reactors to be put in tanks after treatment, waiting for a better solution.

The last barrier put in place is the freezing of the ground all around the 4 accidented reactors, on 1.4 km in order to stop the infiltrations. After many setbacks, the ice wall is finished since November 2017, but the effect remains limited. Even the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, the NRA, seriously doubts the effectiveness of this technique, which it now considers secondary.

A year ago, during our previous assessment, TEPCO pumped 135 m3 of contaminated water daily in the basements of reactor and turbine buildings, in addition to the one it injected for cooling and 62 m3 of groundwater, which made a total of 197 m3 which accumulated daily in tanks after treatment. It’s more in case of rain, or even more during typhoons.

www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2017/images/handouts_170213_01-e.pdf

Now that the soil freeze is over, these flows have been reduced. According to the latest report published by the company, 75 m3 of groundwater infiltrate daily in the basements of reactors to which must be added 15 m3 per pumped groundwater too contaminated to be treated directly before discharge to sea. therefore makes a total of 90 m3 per day. These values correspond to a week without rain. In case of heavy rainfall, it is much more, even if TEPCO has paved and concreted all soils to limit infiltration.

www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2018/images/handouts_180205_01-e.pdf

The water pumped into the basements is treated and stored in tanks at the plant site. TEPCO removes 62 radioelements, but it remains notably tritium, radioactive hydrogen, which is difficult to separate. The company announces that it has already treated 1,891,070 m3 of contaminated water, which generated 9,219 m3 of highly radioactive liquid waste and 597 m3 of radioactive sludge. Part of this is used for cooling and the rest is stored in tanks. According to the company, the stock of treated or partially treated water amounts to 1,037,148 m3 plus 35,010 m3 of water in the basements of the reactor and turbine buildings. There are nearly a thousand tanks to keep this water that occupy almost the entire site of the plant.

www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu18_e/images/180205e0101.pdf

What to do with this treated water? After considering several unrealistic solutions, there remains only the rejection at sea. The concentration in tritium would be one to five million becquerels per liter, which is more than the authorized limit, set at 60 000 Bq / L. But, just dilute, as is done in normal operation. The problem is rather on the side of the total stock, estimated at 3.4 PBq (3.4 billion million becquerels), which represents about 150 years of rejection to the authorized limit.

www.meti.go.jp/earthquake/nuclear/pdf/140424/140424_02_003.pdf

By way of comparison, the discharge authorization at the Areva plant in La Hague is 18.5 PBq for tritium and the actual releases in recent years ranged from 11.6 to 13.4 PBq per year. The Fukushima tritium stock therefore represents 3 ½ months of discards at La Hague. What make the Japanese authorities jealous!

https://apnews.com/5d0932a5a57a4c94821d7e8b5b3f8d4b/japan-prepares-release-tritium-fukushima-plant

On the other hand, we do not know the concentration of other radioelements after filtering. This is important for an impact study before rejection. Toyoshi Fuketa, the president of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, has asked for a decision to be made this year, saying that the rejection at sea is the only solution. The preparation of the rejection should take two to three years, according to him, and TEPCO will quickly run out of space.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/01/11/national/regulator-urges-tepco-release-treated-radioactive-water-damaged-fukushima-no-1-nuclear-plant-sea/

Workers

At the Fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant

• From March 11, 2011 to March 31, 2016, 46,956 workers were exposed to ionizing radiation at the site of the Fukushima daï-ichi power station, including 42,244 subcontractors. It is the subcontractors who take the highest doses, with an average that varies from 0.51 to 0.56 mSv per month between January and February 2016. It is between 0.18 and 0.22 for employees of TEPCO.
There are also 1,203 people who have a higher limit to continue to enter the site. Their average cumulative dose since the beginning of the accident is 36.49 mSv and the maximum value of 102.69 mSv.

www.mhlw.go.jp/english/topics/2011eq/workers/irpw/ede_160430.pdf

• On April 1, 2016, TEPCO reset all meters. For example, 174 workers who exceeded the dose limit of 100 mSv over 5 years may return. Since then, until December 31, 2017, 18,348 people have worked in controlled areas, including 16,456 subcontractors (90%). It is impossible to know how many of them have been exposed in the first five years. During this period, subcontractors took a cumulative average dose of 4.29 mSv, with a maximum of 60.36 mSv, while TEPCO employees took a cumulative average dose of 1.79 mSv with a maximum of 22.85 mSv. Subcontractors thus took 95.4% of the cumulative collective dose of 74 men.sieverts.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/01/national/150-fukushima-no-1-workers-got-maximum-radiation-dose-start-crisis-can-now-return-plant/#.VwAt8quVSiu

www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu18_e/images/180131e0101.pdf

TEPCO has put online many other data on the doses taken, with distributions by age, year …

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2018/1475822_15409.html

TEPCO reduced the risk premiums paid to workers because dose rates decreased on the site. This subject would be one of the main complaints of the staff engaged on the site. It could reach 20,000 yen (150 €) per day, even if, for the subcontractors, this premium was punctuated at each level of subcontracting, to be reduced, sometimes, to less than half. In March 2016, TEPCO divided the site of the accident site into 3 zones, red, yellow and green, depending on the level of risk. But for many workers, this zoning is meaningless: debris from the red zone is transferred to the green zone. The dust raised by the machines does not respect the boundaries … Thus, subcontractors wear protective equipment such as masks in the green zone, even if TEPCO does not require it.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/17/national/media-national/media-reports-de-romanticize-cleanup-work-fukushima-nuclear-power-plant/

About the decontamination sites

In the evacuated areas, it is the government that is prime contractor for the decontamination sites and in the areas not evacuated, it is the communes. The monthly report of the Ministry of the Environment (source, page 16) states:

13 million decontaminators in the evacuated areas and

17 million decontaminators in the areas not evacuated according to the data transmitted by the communes.

josen.env.go.jp/en/pdf/progressseet_progress_on_cleanup_efforts.pdf

These numbers are completely unrealistic. This is probably the number of contracts signed. This means that the authorities do not know the number of decontaminators and therefore do not know the individual doses.

An individual dosimetric follow-up was introduced in November 2013 for the decontaminators (source in Japanese) who work in the evacuated zone and who are subject to the same dose limits as the nuclear workers. Data for 2016 show 36,000 decontaminators. We are far from the millions of decontaminators reported by the Ministry of the Environment. The majority (87%) received a dose of less than 1 mSv / yr and the highest dose was 7.5 and 10 mSv. There is also data by number of sites or by zone.

http://www.rea.or.jp/chutou/koukai_jyosen/H28nen/English/honbun_jyosen-h28-English.html

www.rea.or.jp/chutou/koukai_jyosen/H28nen/English/1zuhyo_jyosen-H28-English.pdf

The most recent data in English, dated January 8, 2018, covers the period October 2016 – September 2017. Doses are reported by period of 3 months while the limits are annual. It is difficult to interpret these numbers. If it appears that the vast majority of decontaminators received less than 1 mSv over 3 months, it is not known how much below this limit over one year. The average annual dose is 0.5 mSv.

www.rea.or.jp/chutou/koukai_jyosen/shihanki/English/From%20October%202016%20to%20September%202017.pdf

Other people exposed

I did not find any official data on the doses taken by those who continued to work in the evacuated area or the many police officers who guard and patrol the restricted areas.

1.jpg

Mapping of radioactive pollution

• The latest aerial mapping of radioactive pollution around the Fukushima daiichi nuclear power station was made in November 2016 and is available online at the dedicated site.
The immediate vicinity of the nuclear power plant has not been recontrolled, it seems.

https://ramap.jmc.or.jp/map/eng/

2.png

Decontamination

Decontamination of evacuated areas is the responsibility of the government. Elsewhere, where the external exposure could exceed 1 mSv / year, it is the municipalities that have to deal with it. See the latest report published by the Ministry of the Environment:

josen.env.go.jp/en/pdf/progressseet_progress_on_cleanup_efforts.pdf

In the evacuated zone, decontamination is complete, except in the parts classified as “difficult return zones” where the external exposure could exceed 50 mSv / year. Decontamination took place only in populated and agricultural areas, not in forests. The ministry announces 22,000 decontaminated homes, 1,600 ha of roads, streets, lanes …, 8,500 ha of agricultural land and 5,800 ha of forest near residential areas.

In the non-evacuated areas, 104 communes were initially concerned, in Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saïtama and Chiba prefectures and it went down to 92 by simple radioactive decay. The decontamination work is completed in 89 of them and remains to be done in 3 others. The ministry announces 418,582 homes decontaminated in Fukushima and 147,656 in other provinces, 11,958 public facilities in Fukushima and 11,803 in other provinces. There are also 18,403 km of roads, streets, roads in Fukushima and 5,399 in other provinces, 31,043 ha of agricultural land in Fukushima and 1,588 ha in other provinces.

For so-called difficult return zones, the government will decontaminate a center in Futaba and Okuma in order to be able to affirm that it has not abandoned any commune. The end of the work is scheduled for 2022. Who will come back after 11 years of evacuation? This work in a highly contaminated zone will generate exposure of the decontaminators to ionizing radiation. As there is no threshold of safety, the first principle of radiation protection requires the justification of these exposures and this has not been done.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201708010034.html

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201701300051.html

The Ministry of the Environment has budgeted 2.6 trillion yen (24.79 billion dollars) until 2016 to finance the decontamination work. Half is for evacuated areas, without taking into account the so-called difficult return zone and the other half for non-evacuated areas.

Radioactive waste from decontamination

• See our summer 2016 report on the problem of waste from decontamination. Organic waste is incinerated and ash must be stored as industrial waste. Soils, for their part, must be stored for 30 years on a site of 16 km2 around the Fukushima daï-ichi plant, the time to find a final solution.

fukushimaontheglobe.com/wp-content/uploads/6-Stories-Facts-from-Fukushima_1228_2_Optimized.pdf

• According to the Ministry of the Environment, the decontamination of the evacuated areas has generated 8,400,000 m3 of waste containing radioactive soils to which are added approximately 7,200,000 m3 in the areas not evacuated (6,800,000 m3 in Fukushima and 400,000 m3 in the other provinces concerned).

josen.env.go.jp/en/pdf/progressseet_progress_on_cleanup_efforts.pdf

• Regarding the 16-square-kilometer (1,600-hectare) contaminated soil storage site with a capacity of 22 million cubic meters, the government has only been able to lease or purchase 48.4% of the surface area , knowing that 21% of the land already belonged to the government or municipalities. That was 18% a year ago.

josen.env.go.jp/en/pdf/progressseet_progress_on_cleanup_efforts.pdf

This site will only accept Fukushima waste. The ministry announces that it has transferred 404,773 bags of about one cubic meter to this site in 2017. It is still far from the millions of cubic meters, but it required 67,146 truckings. And it will take as much transport to resume in 30 years … The total volume stored for the moment is 633 889 m3.

To learn more about this storage site.
• For radioactive waste from other provinces, the authorities prefer landfill even if they are struggling to find sites (source).

http://josen.env.go.jp/en/storage/ josen.env.go.jp/en/pdf/progressseet_progress_on_cleanup_efforts.pdf

• In the meantime, there is waste everywhere, as far as the eye can see. See the Greenpeace videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sgixr-SC4g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fveJc_cMsKM

https://www.greenpeace.de/sites/www.greenpeace.de/files/publications/fukushima-bericht-oktober_2017_v2.pdf

Evacuated areas

• The last evacuation orders were lifted on April 1, 2017 and it remains mostly so-called back difficult areas where access is prohibited.

3.png

Cost of the disaster

Official figures for the cost of the disaster were revised upwards in December 2016 to 21.5 trillion yen (216.88 billion dollars) and have not changed since. This includes the dismantling of the Fukushima daï-ichi reactors, worth 8 trillion yen (80.56 billion dollars), 7.9 trillion yen (79.32 billion dollars) for compensation, nearly 4 trillion yen (40.28 billion dollars) for decontamination and 1.6 trillion yen (16.11 billion dollars) for the temporary radioactive waste storage center.

This sum does not include the cost of storing the waste resulting from the dismantling of the damaged power station nor the creation of a decontaminated island in the so-called “difficult return” zones whose sole purpose is the non-disappearance of the villages concerned.

The bill for the nuclear disaster could be 50,000 to 70 trillion yen (520.67 to 719.02 billion dollars), which is 3 times higher than the government estimate, according to a study by the Japan Center for Economic Research.

TEPCo has already received a total of 8,032.1 billion yen (73.76 billion dollars at the current rate) in advance for compensation. This money is loaned without interest.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2018/1474320_15409.html

The government still holds a 50.1% stake in TEPCO.

Source: http://fukushima.eu.org/chiffres-cles-septieme-anniversaire/

February 19, 2018 Posted by | Fukushima 2018 | , , | 1 Comment

The 21st Century’s Olympic-sized nuclear lie – FUKUSHIMA – theme for March 2018

They are telling us that all is OK now in Fukushima, as enthusiasm rises for the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

This is indeed the lie of the century.  And it is such an important lie. It carries the message that the nuclear industry is under control, and can continue through the century.

It is up to all fair minded people to look at this situation – and  not to be misled by the clarion calls for “jobs” – “nuclear against climate change”  – “the world’s desperate need for energy“.   These are indeed a pack of lies: solar and wind create many more jobs,  the nuclear fuel chain increases carbon emissions, the renewable energy revolution is under way, and so is energy efficiency.

What is the state of Fukushima today?

Radiation inside the plant continues to skyrocket to the point of causing even robots to malfunction.

And it’s not as if the danger is decreasing. In fact, it is quite the contrary.  Radiation levels at the Fukushima plant recently were at their highest levels since the disaster began.

Cancer cases continue to crop up among children living in towns near Fukushima. The Japanese government is refusing to release accurate health data and is threatening to take away hospital privileges from doctors who diagnose radiation symptoms.

Radioactive water continues to run out of the mountain streams into the Pacific, so a thorough cleanup of the mountain ranges should begin right now, but that is a mammoth undertaking that may never succeed.

Both the Japanese government and the atomic power industry are trying to force almost all of the people who evacuated their homes in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster to return “home” before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The government removes the subsidies to evacuees, forcing them back. The International Olympic Commission is working overtime to normalize the situation as well, even though conditions at Fukushima are anything but normal. Big banks and large electric utilities and energy companies are putting profit before public health.

Dr. Tadahiro Katsuta, an associate professor at Meiji University, Japan, an official member of the Nuclear Reactor Safety Examination Committee and the Nuclear Fuel Safety Examination Committee of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, said that the Fukushima evacuees are “extremely worried” that their plight will be overshadowed by the Olympics. He believes the Japanese government is using the Olympics to demonstrate to the world that Japan is now a “safe” country and that the Fukushima disaster “has been solved.”

“In Japan, the people are really forgetting the Fukushima accident as … the news of the Olympics increases,” he said. https://www.ecowatch.com/tokyo-olympics-fukushima-2460798164.html

 

February 19, 2018 Posted by | Christina's themes | Leave a comment

South Korea’s President Moon urges U.S., North Korea, to talk

Moon urges U.S., North to talk, Korea JoonGang Daily 19 Feb 18 
That is the key to a summit in Pyongyang, Blue House maintains  President Moon Jae-in said Saturday it is premature to talk about an inter-Korean summit, making clear that Washington and Pyongyang have to get closer to talking before that can take place.
“Anticipations are high, but I think it is too impetuous,” Moon said when a reporter asked if he will hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. “It’s like the old Korean saying that you are looking for hot water from a well.”

Kim sent his younger sister Kim Yo-jong to South Korea as a special envoy and she delivered an invitation to Moon on Feb. 10 to visit Pyongyang. Moon has yet to formally accept. Moon told his North Korean visitor: “Let’s create the environment for that to be able to happen.” …..

Moon said he is satisfied that various goals he set for the Olympics are being achieved. “One of the most important goals was prompting peace through the PyeongChang Olympics,” he said. “North Korea’s participation successfully eased tensions on the peninsula and the inter-Korean team and joint cheerleading impressed the world.

“Because inter-Korean talks made significant accomplishments, I have expectations for more improvement,” Moon said.

“Consensus is growing that dialogue between the United States and North Korea is necessary,” he said. “We are expecting that the ongoing talks between the two Koreas will lead to talks between the United States and the North and eventually denuclearization talks.”……..

Moon’s attempt to arrange a meeting between chief delegates of the United States and North Korea on the sidelines of the Olympics’ opening ceremony failed very publicly, with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence refusing to engage with the North Korean visitors at a reception and in the viewing box of the opening ceremony. But U.S. officials are increasingly indicating their willingness to talk to the North………http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3044665

February 19, 2018 Posted by | politics international, South Korea | Leave a comment

Nukes don’t kill people — people kill people — and, to protect myself, I need a nuke 

Letter: Nukes don’t kill people — people kill people — and, to protect myself, I need a nuke  https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2018/02/17/letter-nukes-dont-kill-people-people-kill-people-and-to-protect-myself-i-need-a-nuke/  By Brent Pace | The Public Forum

In light of the recent school shooting in Florida, I have realized that I need to exercise my right to bear arms. It is the only way to keep my family safe. I used to think a knife or a bat was enough. Then maybe a handgun or shotgun. Later I thought, no, an AR-15 under the bed should do the trick. In light of recent events, I have deteremined that the only way I can properly exercise my right to bear arms is to go nuclear.

Yes, Editor, I have decided I need to make my own nuclear weapon. You see, nukes don’t kill people — people kill people (thanks for help in understanding that, NRA!). So I’ve been saving my bitcoin. The plan initially was to buy enough plutonium to build a flux capacitor, which as we all know, is what makes time travel possible.

But now I will need the plutonium to build six miniaturized nuclear weapons. One for me, my wife, and each of my four children. Thank goodness our founding fathers had the foresight to allow us the iron-clad right to keep and bear destructive weapons regardless of any other condition.

Now hold on, I’m gonna have to cancel some of my mental-health doctor appointments to make time for this new project.

February 19, 2018 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

France must come clean and admit that it has an exceptionally dangerous nuclear waste problem

Reporterrre 16th Feb 2018, Nuclear waste: the state must stop lying. Pointing out that the situation in which the nuclear industry has led France is particularly complicated.

Why ? Because, while the other countries exploiting nuclear energy have to manage only one type of waste, the spent fuels leaving highly radioactive reactors, France is engaged in the way of reprocessing, which leads to create five types of waste, as we explained in detail this week minor actinides; plutonium, the used MOx, reprocessed uranium, spent uranium
fuel.

The situation is further complicated because there are also graphite-gas fuels, depleted uranium, mine waste rock, and so on. But stay with these five types of waste, the most dangerous. As each has different radioactive and thermal characteristics, each calls for a particular solution.

In other words, while, for example, the United States or Sweden has to manage only one type of nuclear waste – and there is no solution to it – France has five headaches. instead of one. Honesty would be to recognize it, rather than make the public believe that there is ” nuclear waste ” and that it will be enough to bury it to solve the problem.
https://reporterre.net/Dechets-nucleaires-il-faut-que-l-Etat-cesse-de-mentir

 Reporterre 17th Feb 2018, The La Hague plant in the English Channel sees its nuclear waste storage
ponds approaching saturation. Concern is growing in the French nuclear industry, which is desperate for solutions to the different types of high-level radioactive waste it has accumulated for years.
https://reporterre.net/Reporterre-sur-Radio-Suisse-A-La-Hague-rien-ne-va-plus

Reporterre 15th Feb 2018, The storage of radioactive waste in ” swimming pools ” is excessively dangerous: risk of breach, attack, dangerous transport, etc. France is one of the few countries that has not opted for dry storage, which is much safer. https://reporterre.net/Piscine-et-transport-de-dechets-nucleaires-ca-risque-gros

Reporterre 15th Feb 2018  The French atomic sector has multiplied the types of radioactive waste, by setting up a ” reprocessing ” industry which proves useless. The system is moribund, and, mezzo voce, the experts begin to envision its end.
https://reporterre.net/Dechets-nucleaires-a-force-de-mauvais-choix-la-France-est-dans-l-impasse

February 19, 2018 Posted by | France, wastes | 1 Comment

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