Europe’s Extreme light Infrastructure Nuclear Laser project still being hyped. To good to be true?
“..Dr Goldsworthy hopes that in 20 years the laser technology could be enriching a third of the world’s power station uranium, returning “handsome royalty streams” to Australia…”
“ELI will have a large societal benefit in medicine with new radiography and hadron therapy methods. It will also considerably contribute to material science with the possibility to unravel and slow down the aging process in nuclear reactors and in the environment by offering new ways to treat nuclear wastes.”
“…Similarly, the final amplification stage takes multiple lines and one needs to coherently superpose them, as many as 10 or so at the highest power. This is a challenge that the world has never encountered nor has been carried out at this level…”
Zapping Nuclear Waste With Laser Beams Could Actually Be A Great Idea
by MARK MEMMOTT
“World’s Most Powerful Laser Beams To Zap Nuclear Waste.”
That Bloomberg Businessweek headline got our attention. We were imagining the explosion that might result.
But as it turns out, the zapping “could destroy nuclear waste and provide new cancer treatments,” according to the story.
Japanese Legal Expert: “Even residents of Tokyo are evacuating” — More and more people fleeing Fukushima (VIDEO)
“…more and more people evacuate Fukushima…”
http://enenews.com/even-residents-of-tokyo-are-evacuating
Published: October 26th, 2012 at 9:16 am ET
By ENENews
Title: Japanese Attorney Masaki Kito on Fukushima and real estate
Published by: A4NR
Published on: Oct 26, 2012
And this press release from Brunei concerning contaminated food from Japan
THURSDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2012 08:50ROKIAH MAHMUD
-Importation Of Some Food Items From Japan Suspended -Lack of trust? -Brunei Darussalam
“In this regard, importers and the public have been informed that the importation of certain food categories has been suspended.
The importation of any meat, seafood, milk and milk products, fruits and vegetables (fresh and processed), tubers including potato and sweet Potato, seaweed and green tea products from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Kanagawa, Tokyo and Chiba Prefectures are temporarily suspended.”
Urgent petition to save the children of Fukushima -Evacuate now!
UK -Horizon nuclear to be sold to the Chinese and Japanese?
By David Coates
Published on Friday 28 September 2012 09:20
A battle between China and Japan’s financial heavyweights will decide the future of a huge contract to build new nuclear power stations.
The bidding war to buy Horizon Nuclear Power, a group which owns two sites earmarked for a pair of reactors in North Wales and Gloucestershire, has stepped up with Japanese giant Hitachi entering the fray.
It is up against consortiums led by reactor-building group Westinghouse, backed by the financial muscle of China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp, and rival reactor firm Areva and China’s Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Company.
A successful bid for Horizon by Westinghouse would see the contract for decades of fuel for the new reactors head to Springfields Fuels factory in Salwick, near Preston, which employs nearly 1,000 people.
The group has also vowed to ramp up its headquarters on Matrix Park at Buckshaw Village, near Leyland, if it is successful in building its AP1000 reactor across the UK.
The Evening Post understands Hitachi has entered the battle having teamed up with Canadian company, SNC Lavalin.
On Friday, Mike Graham, national secretary of nuclear workers’ trade union, Prospect, said the battle to acquired Horizon had come down to a bidding war between China and Japan.
Scientific symposium in Tokyo on November 12 and 13 2012 – Still limited data after 18 months
“What we really need is a better understanding of the sources and sinks of cesium and other radionuclides that continue to drive what we’re seeing in the ocean off Fukushima.”
Japan’s “triple disaster,” as it has become known, began on March 11, 2011, and remains unprecedented in its scope and complexity. To understand the lingering effects and potential public health implications of that chain of events, scientists are turning to a diverse and widespread sentinel in the world’s ocean: fish.
[…]
As a result, Buesseler concludes that there may be a continuing source of radionuclides into the ocean, either in the form of low-level leaks from the reactor site itself or contaminated sediment on the seafloor. In addition, the varying levels of contamination across fish types points to complex methods of uptake and release by different species, making the task of regulation and of communicating the reasons behind decision-making to the fish-hungry Japanese public all the more difficult. “To predict the how patterns of contamination will change over time will take more than just studies of fish,” said Buesseler, who led an international research cruise in 2011 to study the spread of radionuclides from Fukushima. “What we really need is a better understanding of the sources and sinks of cesium and other radionuclides that continue to drive what we’re seeing in the ocean off Fukushima.” To help achieve this, Buesseler and his colleague Mitsuo Uematsu at the University of Tokyo are organizing a scientific symposium in Tokyo on November 12 and 13 to present the most current findings available about how radionuclides from Fukushima Dai-ichi have affected the ocean, marine life, seafood, policy decisions, and media coverage to date. The event will also include a free public colloquium in Tokyo on November 14 to help spread information about the lessons learned to the broadest possible audience.
[….]
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-10-fishing-fukushima.html#jCp
Leaflet distribution against Kudankulam nuclear plant
(Mirror) – The Movement for People’s Struggle is conducting a leaflet distribution in Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar against the Kudankulam nuclear plant in South India.
It warns the lives of 1.5 million Sri Lankans, including one million in the north, are in danger due to this nuclear plant.
It accuses the government of keeping silent over this grave threat.
http://www.mirror.lk/news/2711-leaflet-distribution-against-kudankulam-nuclear-plant
Slovak Nuclear Power Plants Must Ramp Up Power Supply -Bloomberg
The accident occurred when a tsunami knocked out power supply to Fukushima reactors, disrupting the cooling process that led to reactor meltdown, causing mass evacuations and leading to long-term environmental damage.
Correction to article: meltdown should read meltdowns (3 ) arclight2011
By Ladka Bauerova – Oct 26, 2012
Stress tests at Slovakia’s two nuclear power stations revealed that the facilities need to improve the safety of auxiliary electricity supply, the country’s nuclear security chief said.
Plants in Jaslovske Bohunice and Mochovce, controlled by Enel SpA (ENEL), were forced toreview and improve the diesel generators that ensure the supply of power to the power stations, especially the circuits operating the nuclear reactors, Marta Ziakova, the chairwoman of the Slovak Nuclear Safety Office, said in an interview in Valec, Czech Republic yesterday.
The Mochovce plant, which currently operates two Soviet- designed water-pressure reactors VVER and is building two more, had to increase the capacity of its diesel generators to be able to supply all four units with electricity at the same time, she said. Her office also asked the Jaslovske Bohunice plant to carry out a seismic safety review.
“We asked the Bohunice management to review the plant’s resistance to seismic activities, especially the resistance of the diesel generators,” Ziakova said.
The reviews were part of Europe-wide nuclear stress tests carried out after the reactor disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Dai- Ichi plant in March last year. The accident occurred when a tsunami knocked out power supply to Fukushima reactors, disrupting the cooling process that led to reactor meltdown, causing mass evacuations and leading to long-term environmental damage.
The post-Fukushima stress tests have delayed the completion of units 3 and 4 at Mochovce to 2014-15. So far there is no indication of further delays, Ziakova said.
The older Jaslovske Bohunice reactors received a 10-year life extension in 2008. Slovenske Elektrarne AS, the Slovak utility controlled by Enel, invested about 500 million euros ($645 million) into modernization and improving output. Slovenske can apply for further lifespan extension by 2014, she said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-26/slovak-nuclear-power-plants-must-ramp-up-power-supply.html
Future of UK nuclear power hangs in the balance, says EDF boss -Guardian
The company says it is waiting for government reassurances before going ahead with a nuclear construction programme.
-
Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent
- The Guardian, Tuesday 23 October 2012
[,,,]
Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF Energy, told MPs at a select committee hearing on Tuesday that he had still not made up his mind whether to go ahead with a construction programme that would see the first new nuclear power stations in the UK for decades.
No future for nuclear-powered container ship -Barents Observer
The world’s only nuclear-powered container ship, the Murmansk-based “Sevmorput”, faces a future as scrap metal, two decades before its original service life expires.
The vessel, which has been lying idle in the Atomflot base outside Murmansk for years, was on 31 July this year taken out of the Russian Ship Register. The unique ship will end up a scrap metal, experts in Murmansk confirm.
The “Sevmorput”, which in the 1990s experienced major problems in international shipping following port restrictions, was used mainly on the route between Murmansk and Dudinka, the main port on the Yenisey River. In a bid to get the ship back in active service, the Murmansk Shipping Company in 2007 proposed to rebuild it into an oil drilling vessel. That initiative, however, stranded as the federal nuclear power company Rosatom took over the responsibility of the icebreaker fleet in 2008.
In 2009, Atomflot General Director Vyacheslav Ruksha himself admitted that the “Sevmorput” has no work, and that the fate of the ship is sealed. “If the situation lasts into 2010, the ship will be turned into needles”, he told B-port.ru.
The vessel, built at the Zaliv yard in Kerch, Ukraine, was a unique contribution to the Soviet fleet of civilian nuclear vessels when entering service in 1988. Until then, the world had seen only three other nuclear powered civilian merchant ships, all of which ended up as failed experimental vessels. The 260 meter long and 61.000 ton deadweight “Sevmorput” was to show that the Soviet Union could extend its nuclear power capacities also into merchant shipping. The ship was built in a period of booming shipping in Soviet Arctic waters.
The “Sevmorput”, which also has powerful icebreaking capacities, for several years shipped in both international and Russian domestic waters. However, shipping along the Russian Northern Sea Route declined dramatically in the 1990s and the ship was soon blocked access to most international ports.
http://barentsobserver.com/en/business/no-future-nuclear-powered-container-ship-24-10
*Just In* More US tuna contaminated — Study: Entire food web “including humans” may be affected as Fukushima radionuclides spread to West Coast
Audio on enenews link
Published: October 24th, 2012 at 7:27 pm ET
By ENENews
Emphasis Added
Fisheries researcher Jason Phillips bleeds a just-caught albacore tuna into a collection bag (By Cisco Werner, Southwest Fisheries Science Center)
Presented: Oct. 16, 2012 in Hiroshima, Japan
Title: Assessment and characterization of radionuclide concentrations from the Fukushima Reactor release in the plankton and nekton communities of the Northern California Current
Delvan Neville (Oregon St. Univ.), Richard D. Brodeur (NOAA), A. Jason Phillips (OSU) and Kathryn Higley (OSU)
The incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant released a substantial radioactive contamination into the environment. With the predominant wind and current flow in this part of the North Pacific, these radionuclides will gradually spread to the US West Coast waters after a suitable period of time, with the possibility of affecting food quality throughout the food web (including humans). In addition to the passive transport by currents and winds, the migratory pathways of large pelagic fish extend from Japan to the Northern California Current. These organisms can serve as transport vectors for these nuclides, especially given their capacity to concentrate radionuclides from surrounding waters and prey. […] By predicting the radio-biologic stress (if any) for a managed species as more Fukushima-related radionuclides are uptaken, appropriate action may be taken before significant population effects have occurred. Determination of natural background concentrations and high quality transport models produced from these data also aid in management in the event of a future accidental release, and in regulating safe activity releases.
Oregon State University Press Release, Oct. 24, 2012:
[…] Phillips spent this summer collecting more fish at sea, off Oregon and Washington, as well as from scientists, fishermen and other sources along the West Coast. […] As more fish were tested, the results were consistent with the initial findings: No Cs-134 in fish caught before the disaster, but traces of the isotope in a significant number of fish caught since. “This is what we’ve seen after testing about 70 pounds of tuna,” Neville said. […]
No mention of the actual cesium levels detected in the tuna, only that it’s safe to eat.
USA -Study will assess cancer risks -Flawed methodology? Media ignoring other studies?
the top industry trade group had argued against it, saying the study is “unlikely to produce scientifically defensible results.”
Will the methodology use qualitative research (real data) or quantitative research (statistics and mathematical formula)?
The USA budget for radiation monitoring has been reduced by 40 percent even before the study has begun. is this a coincidence? Therefore NO real data!
The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) is a jointly staffed agency within the Department of Homeland Security. DNDO is the primary entity in the U.S. government for implementing domestic nuclear detection efforts for a managed and coordinated response.
[…]
Occupy the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) WTF??? WHY ARE WE CUTTING THE DNDO BUDGET BY 40%??? Shouldn’t we be INCREASING the detection of radiation in our country b/c there’s an ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan and the prevailing winds are in OUR direction?? It rains down in OUR crops, contaminates OUR food supply, and gets in OUR air and water!! Would someone please explain that to the people in charge!!! Never mind the fact that many of our own 104 aging nuclear power plants also leak and when they do the leaking is invisible. Shouldn’t we be spending MORE on monitoring all of this instead of cutting the budget by 40%?? In the middle of an ongoing nuclear disaster it seems really stupid to be slashing the radiation monitoring budget.
[…]
Methodology of NPP cancer study
“Geographic areas to use in the study (e.g., county, zip codes, census tracts, or annular rings around the facility at some nominal distances)”
The use of annular rings or nominal distances is a farce as the fallout from the tall chimney stacks can travel some way before it touches ground.”
Here is a quote from a report on atmospheric effects on stack emissions The idea is to loft the emissions up and get them to travel far.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
“..In most problems one must estimate the effective stack height, H, at which the plume becomes essentially level. Rarely will this height correspond to the physical height of the stack, h. If the plume is caught in the turbulent wake of the stack or of buildings in the vicinity of the stack, the effluent will be mixed rapidly downward toward the ground (aerodynamic downwash). If the plume is emitted free of these turbulent zones, a number of emission factors and meteorological factors influence the rise of the plume….”
http://archive.org/stream/workbookofatmosp026353mbp/workbookofatmosp026353mbp_djvu.txt
A good example i noticed was reported as a UFO but was actually a smoke ring from the Sellafield Stack. It is likely they had a chimney fire and a sudden release creating this perfect circle of dense and highly radioactive smoke. high dosage enough to kill birds perhaps Picture here;
JAPAN -Member Of Nuclear Regulatory Body Hints At Expanding Definition Of Active Faults
21:46 23 October
Member of nuclear regulatory body hints at expanding definition of active faults
TOKYO, Oct. 23, Kyodo
A member of the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Tuesday suggested broadening the definition of active faults that could undermine the safety of nuclear power plants in Japan, which are currently regarded as those that have moved in the last 120,000 to 130,000 years.
Expanding the definition could mean that utilities would have to take heed of faults that they have not paid attention to in the past, possibly leading them to reevaluate the quake resistance of each plant.
“I have never used 120,000 and 130,000 years (when talking about active faults),” seismologist Kunihiko Shimazaki told reporters, while suggesting that around 400,000 years could provide a possible benchmark.
(SUBSCRIPTION ONLY)
Financing Nuclear Power Projects: New Trends in Asia -ONLY PRIVATE FINANCING AVAILABLE
Financial stakeholders involved include:
– International Atomic Energy Agency
– Japan Bank for International Cooperation
– The Export-Import Bank of Korea
– Natixis Bank
– Fitch Ratings
– AON
October 23, 2012 /EIN Presswire/ — The financing of nuclear power projects is a key consideration for any country planning to include nuclear power in their energy mix. The industry has started to see a shift towards private sector financing and this trend is expected to increase going forward
FINANCING NUCLEAR POWER PROJECTS: NEW TRENDS EMERGING FOR ASIA
Private sector financing for the industry set to increase
The financial cost of new nuclear power projects is a major factor in planning for a sustainable nuclear future. Traditional providers of capital to the nuclear industry have been governments and Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), with commercial banks and international financial institutions playing a lesser role. However, new trends are emerging:- Nuclear Steam System Supplier (NSSS) vendors have recently been taking equity stakes in the projects and China’s biggest nuclear power developer, China National Nuclear Power Co. (CNNC), recently announced plans to access international capital markets via an IPO, proceeds of which will be used to fund five nuclear projects with a total required investmentof 173.5 billion yuan ($27.25 billion).
“Firstly we are seeing a trend whereby NSSS vendors are putting equity into these deals, which provides an additional funding source for the prospective. Secondly, it is important to recognize that financing must be considered over a longer term than just the construction period. By building a more comprehensive financing plan for the prospective project, new sources of financing (e.g., project bonds and passive equity investors) can be integrated into the project after the first refuelling outage has occurred,” said Paul Murphy, Advisory Board member of Asia Nuclear Business Platform and Senior Attorney, Global Project Finance Group of Milbank.
“Finally, multi-owner models and multi-owner off-take structures provide further viable financial models, if the necessary market conditions for such structures are present.”
Spend spend spend! Phoenix nuclear lab gets military money bags -USA
A separate, 100,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant will help the company design a neutron source for the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It is aimed at testing electronic components to see if they could withstand the radiation of space or other military applications, without using highly enriched uranium to simulate those environments.
BRIEF: Phoenix Nuclear Labs gets 2 Army contracts
Oct 23, 2012 (Menafn – The Wisconsin State Journal – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) –Phoenix Nuclear Labs, Monona, has received two contracts with the Army, totaling nearly 1 million.
AFP: School facilities in Fukushima city exceed radiation limit by 1,000% — Many hot spots around playground equipment are especially disturbing -Greenpeace
Published: October 23rd, 2012 at 7:30 am ET
|
Title: Japan’s radiation monitoring unreliable: Greenpeace
Source: AFP
Author: Kyoko Hasegawa
Date: Oct 23, 2012
Government radiation monitoring in areas near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is unreliable, Greenpeace charged on Tuesday, with heavily populated areas exposed to 13 times the legal limit.
The environmental group said authorities were wasting time cleaning up evacuated areas and should prioritise decontamination efforts in places where people live, work and play.
Greenpeace found that in some parks and school facilities in Fukushima city, home to 285,000 people, radiation levels were above three microsieverts per hour. Japan’s recommended radiation limit is 0.23 microsieverts per hour. […]
Rianne Teule, Greenpeace’s radiation expert
- “We also found that official monitoring posts placed by the government systematically underestimate the radiation levels”
- Some machines are shielded from radiation by surrounding metal and concrete structures
- “Official monitoring stations are placed in areas the authorities have decontaminated. However, our monitoring shows that just a few steps away the radiation levels rise significantly”
- “Decontamination efforts are seriously delayed and many hot spots that were repeatedly identified by Greenpeace are still there”
- “It is especially disturbing to see that there are many hot spots around playground equipment, exposing children who are most vulnerable to radiation risks”
Greenpeace’s Japan nuclear campaigner Kazue Suzuki
- Attempts to clean up were “misguided”
- “One home or office may be cleaned up, but it is very unlikely that the whole area will be freed of radiation risks within the next few years” given the mountainous and heavily forested nature of the region
- “The government continues to downplay radiation risks and give false hope (of returning home) to victims of this nuclear disaster”
be sure to check this article {arclight2011}
Update -FBI releases documents that confirm they spy on anarchists- Leah-Lynn Plante freed but not her friends!
“On Thursday, legal documents intended to be cloaked indefinitely were accidently unsealed in US District Court in Seattle for a moment, finally offering a small bit of insight as to why the FBI has been targeting adherents to a specific ideology and intensifying what some have equated to a politically-motivated witch-hunt aimed at anarchists.”
Published: 22 October, 2012,
RT news
Two anarchists remain locked up as prosecutors attempt to coerce the testimonies they’ve been subpoenaed to give about acts of vandalism in the Pacific Northwest. In the meantime, though, the FBI has accidentally blown the cover off its own case.
Ever since Leah Plante, Katherine “KteeO” Olejnik and Matt Duran were asked to testify before a federal grand jury earlier this year, all three self-identified anarchists have been adamant about remaining silent. For refusing to speak, federal prosecutors have since put the trio of twenty-something activists behind bars over contempt of court charges, with Plante being awarded her freedom only in recent days. As her colleagues continue their imprisonment, though — where they could remain for the entirety of the 18-month investigation — the FBI has failed to provide to the press or public alike any information as to why they’ve targeted the known activists or what role they could play in unraveling a greater conspiracy.
1 This Month
26 April – Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown airs on National Geographic on Sunday 26th April from 4pm
29 April – Nuclear Expert Webinar #1 – Radiation Impacts on Families with Mary Olson and Cindy Folkers
- 12:15 PM MT – 1:45 PM MT
- Location: Virtual – REGISTER TODAY
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
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
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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