Small modular nuclear reactors risky venture for Saskatchewan
https://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/letters/letters-small-modular-nuclear-reactors-risky-venture-for-saskatchewan 16 Oct 22, Small modular reactors do not exist yet
Referring to nuclear as a possible part of our future energy mix in “SaskPower working to find right mix for the future,” (Oct. 5) CEO Rupen Pandya said “small modular reactors are smaller, easier to build, more affordable and safer”. This statement is both misleading and inappropriate.
Pandya’s use of the word “are” is a red flag: SMRs do not yet exist. The type of SMR SaskPower has selected to build — if it ever gets beyond the conceptual stage — would use enriched uranium fuel imported from the
USA, thus cannot be considered “safe”.
Are SMRs easier to build? We don’t know, since none have ever been built.
The exact cost of building the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 is unknown, but would be in the billions of dollars, and is certainly less affordable than renewable energy options that are already available.
Nuclear power projects are prone to cost over-runs and delays — but this is an advantage for the companies involved in their design and construction, as it means more money will be be transferred to them from
the taxpayer.
An energy mix based on expensive, uncertain and risky SMRs would foreclose on building a truly sustainable energy future based on energy conservation and renewable sources like solar, wind, hydro, geothermal
and energy storage systems.
SaskPower should be listening — not trying to sell us on a particular option.
Cathy Holtslander, Saskatoon
SMRs are hardly emissions free
Re. Cameco engineer Brahm Neufeld’s letter on small modular reactors.
The marketing of SMRs has been entirely fraudulent. No emissions? Of course there will be emissions. All nuclear power plants must release radioactive gases, tritium and krypton intermittently and sometime inadvertently.
If carbon dioxide is included it would likely be radioactive carbon-14. Green? The carbon cost of building, mining, refining, enriching and decommissioning is many times that of solar and wind.
Dale Dewar, Wynyard
The strange case of small modular reactors.
A small but bullish band of
researchers are developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to provide
firm low-carbon electricity in a decentralised, flexible power system. But
time to make an impact on the energy transition is running out. SMR
technology remains unproven and susceptible to the same cost and delays
issues facing traditional nuclear generation, which is clinging on to its
market share.
Foresight 13th Oct 2022
https://foresightdk.com/the-strange-case-of-small-modular-reactors/
Editorial: Japan’s push to extend nuke reactor life past 40 yrs doesn’t add up
October 13, 2022 (Mainichi Japan)
The administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has begun considering eliminating the “40-year rule,” or the principle that nuclear reactors should be decommissioned after four decades in service.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), which is responsible for the law enforcing the 40-year principle, has given its blessing to this new policy. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in charge of the stable supply of electricity, will now decide how a reactor’s operating life should be determined.
The 40-year rule was introduced after the meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings (TEPCO)’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in March 2011. And since then, the idea that nuclear reactors will run for 40 years and no more has become firmly entrenched.
The rule was also Japan’s declaration that it was committed to moving away from nuclear dependence by decommissioning aging reactors one by one, reflecting upon the seriousness of the disaster.
A policy shift from the 40-year rule would require national consensus. It is unacceptable for the administration to leave legal revisions regarding safety up to the industry ministry — which spent decades promoting nuclear power — and essentially dictate a return to atomic power. It is also inconsistent with the government’s own Basic Energy Plan, which clearly states that Japan’s dependence on nuclear power will be reduced.
In August this year, Prime Minister Kishida abruptly announced a policy of building new nuclear power plants and restarting existing reactors. This was based on the belief that atomic power is indispensable for both a stable electricity supply and to decarbonize Japan’s energy system.
One obstacle to this is those existing reactors’ service time. Most of them have been in operation for 30 years, and should the 40-year rule be strictly applied, more than 10 reactors will have to be decommissioned by 2030.
The electricity sector and the industry ministry hope to extend those reactors’ operational life to save money, arguing that “40 years is just a guideline with no clear scientific basis.” However, data on accident risks at aging atomic power plants is limited. After the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns, it was decided that 11 reactors in Japan would be decommissioned because it would cost too much to implement the safety measures needed to keep them running.
NRA head Shinsuke Yamanaka stated, “We will establish a system that enables strict regulation no matter what the operational life may be.” But is there enough knowhow, and a sufficiently robust review system, to maintain effective regulation?
Even if the rules are changed to allow nuclear reactors to stay online regardless of how long they’ve been in service, this does not guarantee that restarts will go smoothly. In addition to potential nuclear accidents, municipalities hosting the plants have deep-seated concerns about information disclosure and evacuating residents in case of a disaster.
What is needed is an energy policy that makes use of the lessons learned from Fukushima Daiichi. Forcing through political decisions without convincing the Japanese public will only stoke their distrust of nuclear power.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20221013/p2a/00m/0op/009000c
Hong Kong to follow mainland China on regulations on Japanese imports if water from Fukushima nuclear disaster released into Pacific
Japan plans to release over 1.25 million tonnes of treated waste water contaminated by wrecked Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into Pacific
Since nuclear disaster, Hong Kong has prohibited imports of vegetables, fruits, milk, milk-based beverages and milk powder from Fukushima prefecture
11 Oct, 2022
If mainland China steps up regulations on food products imported from Japan when it releases treated water from Fukushima into the Pacific next year, Hong Kong will follow suit, the city’s environmental minister has said.
The remark made by Secretary of Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Tuesday referred to Tokyo’s plans, which were revealed last year, to release over 1.25 million tonnes of treated waste water contaminated by the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific in 2023.
Tse said at a Legislative Council panel meeting that, because marine pollution involved international relations, the administration had expressed its concerns to the foreign ministry’s Hong Kong office.
“We will carry out closer ties and communication with the mainland and see what the mainland will do politically in the future. In this regard, Hong Kong will definitely be politically consistent with the mainland,” he told lawmakers.
Tse said the Centre for Food Safety tested more than 760,000 food samples imported from Japan from March 2011 to December 2021. None exceeded the radiation guideline levels suggested by the Codex Alimentarius under the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
After the Japanese authorities announced the radioactive waste water discharge plan, the Hong Kong government requested more information and specific information from the country and paid close attention to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s assessment, he added.
Hong Kong prohibited the imports of all vegetables, fruit, milk, milk-based beverages and milk powder from the Fukushima prefecture after the 2011 nuclear disaster.
Food from four nearby prefectures – Ibaraki, Tochigi, Chiba and Gunma – is only given entry after obtaining a radiation certificate and an exporter’s certificate issued by the Japanese authorities.
The Centre for Food Safety has published a monthly report, which includes radiation surveillance data on products from Japan.
Government statistics have shown that food imports from Japan amounted to about 1.5 per cent of the total food supply in Hong Kong last year. Aquatic products and poultry eggs had the highest import volume, accounting for about 6.3 per cent and 9.7 per cent of the city’s total food imports respectively.
Tse said at the panel meeting that authorities would continue to communicate with local food importers to ensure the industry understood the plan and made preparations as soon as possible.
Tokyo announced in April last year that it intended to discharge the water used to cool the nuclear reactors at Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean after treatment in 2023, causing concern among neighbouring countries, including China and South Korea.
Environmental groups and fishery operators have also warned that the waste water discharge would compromise the region’s marine ecosystem, the food chain and food safety.
In Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has raised grave concerns and strong opposition to the plan, urging Japanese authorities to consult stakeholders and relevant international organisations.
The Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong said it “strongly” hoped city authorities could lift the import restriction on food products from the country since all the samples sent for inspection had proved safe for consumption.
“Japan has been taking measures strictly abiding by relevant international law and working closely with [the International Atomic Energy Agency] to give due consideration to international practice, and will continue to do so,” a spokesman said.
“Food safety for Japanese food lovers in Hong Kong is as important to the Japanese government as food safety for the Japanese people … We will also continue to explain to Hong Kong, based on a scientific manner, that the safety of Japanese food products is ensured.”
Japan: Support for those displaced by Fukushima nuclear disaster must be unconditional, says UN expert
GENEVA (10 October 2022) – A UN expert has urged the Japanese government to give unqualified, human rights and needs-based support to the more than 30,000 people still displaced 11 years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.That approach must also apply to reconstruction in affected areas.
“Many displaced persons are unable or unwilling to return to their areas of origin due to lingering fears regarding radiation levels, or concerns about access to basic services including education, healthcare, and jobs in these areas,” said Cecilia Jiménez-Damary, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The expert emphasised there could be no distinction made between IDPs – also known as “evacuees” in Japan – on the basis of whether their displacement was motivated by fear of the effects of the disaster or due to a mandatory evacuation order.
“Protection and assistance to IDPs must be provided on the basis of their human rights and their needs, and not on the basis of status-based categorisations, which have no justification under international human rights law,” Jiménez-Damary said in a statement presenting her preliminary observations from a 10-day visit to Japan.
“All IDPs have the same rights and entitlements as citizens of Japan, and the practice of allocating support based on whether IDPs are categorised as ‘mandatory’ or ‘voluntary’ must end.”
Since the 2011 disaster, IDPs have faced challenges in accessing basic rights, including housing, health, livelihood, participation, and education for children. “To enable durable solutions, conditions must be in place to ensure their right to an adequate standard of living including housing, access to employment and livelihoods, and effective remedy for displacement-related rights violations, including in places of origin to which they are being asked to return,” the Special Rapporteur said.
Accurate information was essential for the evacuees to make informed decisions on whether to return or settle elsewhere. It was also critical to ensure their right to freely choose the most appropriate durable solution is not impeded by policies that make assistance conditional on return.
“For IDPs who remain in evacuation, there should be continued basic support, especially provision of housing assistance to the most vulnerable households and support for all IDPs achieve sustainable livelihoods,” the Special Rapporteur said.
She urged authorities to adopt an area-based approach to the reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture covering the needs and rights of both IDPs and remaining residents. “To rebuild social cohesion, it is essential that both IDPs and the current residents of Fukushima Prefecture engage in dialogue and are provided with full information and are able to freely participate in decisions related to reconstruction,” the expert said.
The Special Rapporteur visited Tokyo and the prefectures of Fukushima, Kyoto, and Hiroshima and met with executive and legislative officials, civil society organisations, lawyers, and academic researchers. She also heard from internally displaced persons and communities affected by the nuclear disaster.
A comprehensive report on the Special Rapporteur’s visit will be presented to the Human Rights Council in June 2023.
ENDS
Ms. Cecilia Jimenez-Damary was appointed Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons by the United Nations Human Rights Council in September 2016. A human rights lawyer specialized in forced displacement and migration, she has over three decades of experience in NGO human rights advocacy. Her mandate, which covers all countries, has been recently renewed by resolution 50/6 of the Human Rights Council.
As a Special Rapporteur, she is part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
Read the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
UN Human Rights country page: Japan
[Nuclear Waste] Two Years After Applying for the Literature Review, the Divide Remains Unresolved in Suttsu Town, Hokkaido, Japan
High-level radioactive waste, or “nuclear waste.
Two years have passed since the town of Suttsu, Hokkaido, applied to participate in a study for the construction of a final repository for this waste.
The first phase of the literature review has reached its climax, but the focus is on whether or not to proceed to the next phase of the survey.
We covered the current situation in Machi.
Salmon landings are at their peak in Sutou Town.
Strong winds blow all year round.
In the fall of last year, when the wind began to turn cold, the town attracted nationwide attention.
（Mayor Kataoka said, “I want to put this nuclear waste on the table.
Mayor Haruo Kataoka decided to apply, so to speak, on his own initiative to the national government’s survey for the construction of a final disposal site for nuclear waste from nuclear power plants.
Nuclear waste has no place to go and cannot even be touched by humans.
After it is mixed with glass and hardened, it is buried in a stratum deeper than 300 meters underground.
It will take 100,000 years for the waste to reach a safe state.
However, for each of the three levels of investigation accepted, the municipality is given a large subsidy.
This was Mayor Kataoka’s goal.
（Mayor Kataoka said, “I heard about this in a study group on the final disposal of nuclear power plants, and I thought it was a pretty tasty grant.
The grant obtained from the literature review was 1.85 billion yen over two years.
Part of the grant is used for personnel expenses for nursery staff, and the rest is set aside as a fund.
For a small town, this is a valuable financial resource.
Kazuyuki Tsuchiya runs a pension in the town.
He has consistently opposed the survey.
(Kazuyuki Tsuchiya) “The gap between those in favor and those opposed is deepening. Those who are in favor of the project have talked to me.
I try not to mention it as much as possible. I try not to mention it.”
The literature survey will soon reach the two-year mark, with the pros and cons remaining divided.
However, with the exception of Kamieuchi Village, where the survey is also underway, no local government has raised its hand.
In the town of Sutto, a referendum will be held to decide whether or not to conduct the next survey, but Mayor Kataoka has not found the right time to do so.
(Mayor Kataoka (last month): “The residents are still anxious. They are anxious in the absence of knowledge.
I frankly feel that things are not progressing very smoothly.
(Mr. Kazuyuki Tsuchiya) “I think that those who are complying with the town’s way of doing things have stopped thinking about it.
（Is the future bright?
(Kazuyuki Tsuchiya) “It is not bright. The darkness is getting deeper and deeper.
There is an expert at Hokkaido University who has been advising NUMO, which is conducting the survey, for many years.
(Professor Tsutomu Sato, Hokkaido University Graduate School) “The literature survey has already started, and I have given advice before that.
The next time the overview survey starts, I will advise them on how they should proceed in this way.”
Discussions with local residents have not progressed well in the town of Sutou.
Professor Sato points out that the reason for this is also on NUMO’s side.
(Professor Tsutomu Sato, Hokkaido University Graduate School) “Right now, NUMO is investigating what they want to investigate for their own purposes.
They may want to know why we can get good oysters here, or why it may have something to do with geology or geological strata.
It is difficult to say whether the research is being conducted in such a way that the residents would want to know about it.
The purpose of a literature review is to compile information for a dialogue that is beneficial to both parties.
If we can do that well, I think we can overcome the hurdle of the literature review.
The debate over nuclear waste has created a deep divide within the town.
Concrete solutions to bridge that divide remain shrouded in darkness.
https://www.stv.jp/news/stvnews/cs3pdu00000022ym.html?fbclid=IwAR3ShIsHhdE6kSOtkO5grcv1gxg2Dbs-PKkbnX8vB1LKocXNYtFZ2qow7XA
Japan’s TEPCO ‘exaggerates’ nuclear wastewater safety with faulty dosimeter
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant run by TEPCO, Okuma town, northeastern Japan, March 3, 2022
October 9, 2022
The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) has been exaggerating the safety of treated nuclear wastewater with a dosimeter that fails to detect certain radioactive substances at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, local media has reported.
When demonstrating the safety of treated nuclear wastewater, the company uses a dosimeter that fails to detect radioactive tritium, but only responds to high-concentration cesium emitted by gamma rays, the Tokyo Shimbun reported.
During tours at the plant, TEPCO staff put a dosimeter that detects only gamma rays near a bottle containing treated water, as a demonstration that the treated water is safe, according to the newspaper.
However, the water contained tritium which is about 15 times the amount of the release standard, it reported.
The gamma rays, which may affect the human body due to external exposure, are generated by the radioactive cesium contained in the radiation-tainted water.
Katsumi Shozugawa, assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, said the demonstration was “meaningless scientifically,” noting that even when the amount of cesium in the sample water is dozens of times higher than the release standard, it can not be detected, as the equipment would only respond to gamma rays emitted by highly concentrated cesium.
According to a plan released by TEPCO, nuclear wastewater from cooling core meltdowns of reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant should be treated at least twice before it is discharged into the sea, with the treated water containing tritium that emits weak beta rays. Tritium can not be removed by TEPCO’s treatment facilities.
TEPCO said the demonstration had been shown to about 1,300 organizations and 15,000 visitors since July 2020.
The company claimed that the purpose of the demonstration is to explain that the gamma rays emitted by the treated wastewater are reduced, and admitted that the tritium emitting beta rays exceeds the standard amount, said the newspaper.
Struck by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that hit Japan’s northeast on March 11, 2011, the No. 1-3 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant suffered core meltdowns, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.
The plant has been generating a massive amount of radiation-tainted water since the accident happened. TEPCO started construction of facilities that will dump nuclear wastewater into the sea.
1 This Month.
Let’s keep radioactive waste away from our river!
Nuclear Power? -Never again
(Switzerland –https://www.greenpeace.ch/de/handeln/atomkraft-nie-wieder/+)
PETITION – Close Down the Monticello Nuclear Reactor on the Mississippi River!
Now until to February 10, 2026 Radioactive waste storage in France: the debate is finally open! How to participate?
-
Archives
- December 2025 (223)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (377)
- September 2025 (258)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
- June 2025 (348)
- May 2025 (261)
- April 2025 (305)
- March 2025 (319)
- February 2025 (234)
- January 2025 (250)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 