First Belarus reactor under construction since Chernobyl
07 November 2013
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-First-Belarus-reactor-under-construction-0711134.html
The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the foundation slab of the initial reactor at the Ostrovets site in Belarus marking the official start of construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant.
The concrete-pouring process for the slab began on 6 November, according to Belarus official news agency Belta. This will provide a foundation for the containment and auxiliary buildings that are within the unit’s nuclear island.
Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate (Belarus AEC) announced in late October that it had been issued with a construction licence for Ostrovets unit 1 by the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (Gosatomnadzor) of the Ministry of Emergencies.
Belarus launched a tender for the construction of the plant and invited bids from Russian state nuclear enterprise Rosatom, Areva and Westinghouse-Toshiba. The 1200 MWe AES-2006 model VVER pressurized water reactor design, developed by the Saint Petersburg AtomEnergoProekt, has been selected for use at the plant.
The main construction contract was awarded to AtomStroyExport (ASE) in October 2011, while a $10 billion turnkey contract was finalised between Belarus and Rosatom in July 2012 for the supply of the two reactors.
The construction time for the first unit is expected to be 60 months after first concrete, with the beginning of the physical start-up and commissioning of the unit due in 2018. The timetable for the second unit will be about 18 months behind it, with commissioning set for July 2020.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
Loss of veto over Cumbria nuclear waste dump site ‘extremely flawed’
“We need to make sure these areas are properly compensated and not just given a few goodies in a paper bag.”
Image source ; http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/politicalcartoons/ig/Political-Cartoons/Cash-for-Nuclear-Clunkers-.htm
PLANS to sideline the views of Cumbria County Council on whether a nuclear waste dump should be located in the county have been lambasted by councillors.
Area representatives for the authority met at County Hall in Kendal yesterday to discuss a new government document which sets out the process for how a site will be found.
The report states the final decision on the location of a new nuclear repository – once a new search gets under way – will rest in the hands of district authorities.
The move would remove Cumbria County Council’s “no” vote on the matter in January this year.
County Councillor Lord Roger Liddle told the council meeting that while he believed in nuclear power, asking communities to volunteer themselves for a repository was not the right way to approach the matter.
He said: “I have always been a believer in nuclear power. But this process is extremely, badly flawed.
“We have a huge responsibility to future generations, not just to solve the problem of waste in Cumbria but to preserve the asset of the Lake District, a priceless part of our heritage.”
Hero rescues pets from Fukushima nuclear wasteland
Published on 5 Nov 2013
Subscribe to ITN News: http://bit.ly/itnytsub
A man who refused to leave when Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plants melted down is now caring for hundreds of abandoned animals in a wasteland. As fears of radiation grew following the meltdowns of March 2011, tens of thousands of people fled their homes, and the area was put into lock-down. Even now, more than two-and-a-half years after the disaster, those who enter must leave again before nightfall. But one man never left.
Keigo Sakamoto, 58, started an animal sanctuary over a decade ago in Naraha, fewer than 12-and-a-half miles from the Fukushima plant. After the disaster, he was ordered to evacuate, which would have meant abandoning some 500 animals including chickens, dogs, rabbits, geese, goats and guinea pigs. Sakamoto refused to leave. The government blocked access roads with concrete blocks and he was trapped inside, cut off from supplies. For months he and his animals ate anything they could find, explaining here that he feeds cat food to his dogs.
Twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, Sakamoto makes the one-and-a-half-hour supply run to the nearby town of Iwaki. He receives some monetary support and bags of animal feed from his supporters, who send it to a pet shop in town. A supermarket provides him with discarded vegetables. Sakamoto says he is not scared, because he is protecting hundreds of lives, and plans to continue doing what he is doing. Report by Mark Morris.
China on Tuesday demanded that Japan provide “accurate” information on how it is handling new fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
06 Nov 2013
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/china-demands-accurate/875468.html
UNITED NATIONS: China on Tuesday demanded that Japan provide “accurate” information on how it is handling new fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
China told the UN General Assembly it was worried about radioactive water leaks from the Japanese plant that went into meltdown after being hit by a tsunami in March 2011.
“China follows closely the countermeasures to be adopted by Japan,” China’s deputy UN ambassador Wang Min told a debate on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog.
“We urge the Japanese side to spare no effort in minimising the subsequent impact of the accident and provide timely, comprehensive and accurate information to the international community,” Wang added.
China and Japan have a series of bilateral disputes, and the new comments are certain to annoy the Japanese government, which is already under major domestic pressure over Fukushima, diplomats said.
Wang said the 2011 disaster had “sounded the alarm bell for nuclear safety” even though China “firmly” supports the use of nuclear power.
South Korea also said it was worried about the radioactive leaks but gave more support to Japan.
Fukushima “continues to be a source of serious concern, especially to adjacent countries, because of the spillage of contaminated water into the sea,” said South Korea’s deputy UN ambassador Sul Kyung-Hoon.
South Korea “appreciates the Japanese government’s efforts to share relevant information with the international community,” Sul added, while calling on the IAEA to strengthen assistance to Japan.
IAEA director general Yukiya Amano said the UN atomic watchdog “has recommended that Japan establish an effective plan and mechanisms for the long-term management of contaminated water.
“The announcement by the Japanese government of a basic policy for addressing this issue was an important step forward.” Amano added, saying that an IAEA team will visit Japan this year.
Fukushima and Iwaki reconstruction: eyewitness report
There is very little reconstruction along the Fukushima coastline: a sea wall, a few railway bridges on the East JR railway, but no housing development, no new city development. A local property agent working from Tokyo tells me: “I can’t sell houses, as banks won’t lend in this area.”
05 November 2013
http://www.channel4.com/news/fukushima-and-iwaki-reconstruction-eyewitness-report
British architect Garry Thomas visited Iwaki, near the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, recently. He found a place barely reconstructed, and residents losing hope.
During my visit to Iwaki, I stayed with two Japanese families, and got to see how little reconstruction there is, and how 25,000 people in the area have been displaced by tsunami damage or radiation contamination, writes Garry Thomas, a British architect.
The reason I visited the Fukushima area is that I have friends there, and I worked there as a student of architecture 19 years ago.
I worked with a Japanese architect in Iwaki – Yanai San. Whilst there as part of the Japan Home Stay programme, I lived with another architect – Yoshida San, also in Iwaki.
I was motivated to revisit the area to meet my old friends and to see for myself how the area and architects are coping with tsunami damage, earthquake damage and radiation contamination.
I found the situation far from positive and in crisis.
In spite of the huge reconstruction effort I was shocked to find out that there is very little work for architects in the Fukushima area. The situation is bogged down by the slow city planning process, bank funding and lending problems and an economy that is depressed by radiation and young people leaving the area.
The only real economy is services that provide for refugees, and radiation gang workers.
I found the situation far from positive and in crisis.
Yoshida San who used to employ a few people and his son, also an architect, has had to rent out his office space and part of his home to refugees because of a lack of work. He does what little work he has from a desk in his living room. His son has left the area and moved to Sendai to work in a practice with his old university professor.
nd Yanai San fears it is the yakuza [mafia] that now controls gangs of workers at the Daichii plant, an allegation which has been made before.
“It is the yakuza and their companies that are controlling the radiation gang workers,” he told me.
“Iwaki people stay at home more now, they fear the refugee population and the gang workers who drink in bars at night – they are too rustic for Iwaki city people.”
I get to meet some of the Iwaki refugee population and discover it is made up of those forced out by official radiation contamination, who receive government payouts; those who are forced out voluntarily from undefined radiation contamination, who receive no funding and have lost everything; and refugees made up of radiation gang workers, who are bussed to Daichii every day.
During my stay at the home of Yoshida San I get to meet Hiroaki San, a 10-year-old boy and his parents – voluntary refugees forced out of their hometown of Hisanohamma by tsunami damage and radiation fear.
U.N. cover-up of Fukushima exposed on TV — Medical Doctor: There’s now many more cancer cases than we expected from Fukushima, UNSCEAR report has falsified estimations (VIDEO)
Published: November 5th, 2013 at 4:01 pm ET
By ENENews
Title: Medical experts criticize UNSCEAR report for playing down consequences of Fukushima nuclear accident
Source: 3sat (German language public TV network)
Captions: World Network For Saving Children From Radiation
Date Published: Nov. 5, 2013
At 1:30 in
Dr. Alex Rosen, Medical Doctor and radiation specialist: There is now a much higher number of thyroid cancer cases than we expected. […]
Narrator: According to Dr. Alex Rosen, there are various falsified estimations in the UNSCEAR [United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation] report. […]
Professor Wolfgang Hoffman, professor of epidemiology at Geifswald University: It is certain that we will have an elevated level of cancer. […]
Marc Molitor, journalist with Belgisher TV (Belgium): A certain member within UNSCEAR told me that the report was written to play down the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident. Moreover, he also said that the members pretend not to learn the lesson from Chernobyl. There was seemingly a discussion on it.
[UNSCEAR Report: “No discernible increased incidence of radiation-related health effects are expected among exposed members of the public or their descendants. The most important health effect is on mental and social well-being”]
IAEA to gauge radioactivity in Fukushima seawater with limited testing, limited manpower and limited time!
6 November 2013, 01:36
According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, two experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency, ecologist David Osborn and radiometrics engineer Hartmut Nies, will be in Japan next Thursday and Friday on a mission to sample seawater off Fukushima for gauging its radioactivity levels.
On March 11, 2011 four of the reactors of the Fukushima nuclear power plant were badly crippled by a series of accidents following a powerful earthquake and a subsequent tsunami.
Fukushima is now rated as the world’s worst nuclear disaster after Chernobyl.
Voice of Russia, RIA
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_11_06/IAEA-to-gauge-radioactivity-in-Fukushima-seawater-1584/
Steering away from nuclear power following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, Japan on Monday opened its biggest solar plant.
5 november 2013
Japan’s Kyocera Corp. built the 70-megawatt Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Plant in the country’s southwest region. The plant will produce enough electricity to power about 22,000 homes, according to xinhuanet.com.
“We would like to contribute to new development and improvement for human societies through a new type of energy production from Kagoshima, the place where many courageous samurai challenged the ancient political and social regime in the 1860s to reform the country,” Nobuo Kitamura, the plant’s president, said at the plant’s opening ceremony.
Japan aims to diversify its energy mix by developing its renewable energy sector, and it’s pushing solar by giving incentives to homeowners and businesses that use it. Previously, Japan’s energy policy favored nuclear power.
To date, Japan is one of only five countries to have achieved 10-gigawatts of cumulative solar capacity, according to recent research released by NPD Solarbuzz. The four other countries are Germany, Italy, China and the U.S.
According to an independent equity broker and financial services group, Japan’s solar energy will increase to 19-gigawatts by 2016. One gigawatt of solar power is enough to power 139,000 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
By the end of August, rooftop solar panel installations made up 89 percent of Japan’s solar market, and the remaining 11 percent comprised installations on the ground and off-grid segments.
Japan’s evolving solar strategy includes efforts to diversify its energy portfolio, reduce its Mideast energy dependence and avoid related import disruptions.
Nuclear accident may force lockdown
The seven existing nuclear power plants in the UK are to be shut down by 2023
Irish homes could be forced into lockdown in the event of a major meltdown at a nuclear power plant in the UK, experts have warned.
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) predicted people could be forced to stay indoors for days were an accident to occur at any of the eight plants dotted along the west coast of Britain.
Chief executive Dr Ann McGarry said while a potential accident would result in “no observable health impacts”, the socio-economic consequences would be much worse.
“People might be advised to stay in doors for a period of time. It could be from hours to possibly a day or two,” Dr McGarry said.
“For most of the accident scenarios that we looked at, some food controls would be necessary.
“The amount of radioactivity reaching Ireland wouldn’t be enough to directly impact the health of people, but if food contaminated wasn’t taken off shelves and people ate it, it would have some impact.”
Dr McGarry said radiation from a leak, spill or explosion would travel from the UK to Ireland by sea and air.
But what might initially be large amounts would be diluted in water or fail to travel the distance across the Irish Sea to be high enough to pose a serious risk.
The seven existing nuclear power plants in the UK are to be shut down by 2023.
It is proposed the plants will be replaced and eight new sites have been identified for construction.
Dr McGarry, during a grilling by members of the Oireachtas environment committee, played down any potential risks to Ireland that would result from their build.
She said one accident scenario had been identified in which cancer results could increase.
“From day-to-day operations, we do not believe there is a health risk, but we did look at one accident scenario where there would be an increase in cancer rates if things went badly wrong,” Dr McGarry said.
Responding to concerns about old tanks used at the Sellafield power station in Cumbria, the RPII chief insisted they posed no real danger to Ireland.
She likened the tanks to swimming pools above ground, saying if there were an explosion similar to that at Chernobyl in the 1980s, there would not be the same level of power to lift the radioactivity into the air for it to travel to Ireland.
The only way this could be achieved, she said, would be with a meteorite.
“If a meteorite were to hit a tank and release radioactivity into the air, then in that sort of scenario we could have some impact in Ireland.”
Point Lepreau nuclear power plant leaks toxic chemical into Bay of Fundy again!
NB Power says levels of hydrazine low; will investigate to prevent future releases
CBC News
Posted:Nov 04, 2013
http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/story/1.2356261
Water laced with low levels of the toxic chemical hydrazine has spilled from the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant into the Bay of Fundy, according to NB Power.
The release happened Sunday when light water leaked from a valve on the non-nuclear side of the Point Lepreau Generating Station, according to the company. The release is contained, it said.
NB Power said samples taken Sunday along the shoreline of the Bay of Fundy contained 0.009 parts per million of hydrazine.
In a statement, the company said the concentration is “less than federally recommended guidelines that determine impacts on marine life or ecological systems.” Testing Monday found levels below detection, the company said.
“NB Power will continue to monitor the area and take additional samples,” Claire Harris, a manager at the generating station, said in an statement.
“Following a thorough investigation, NB Power will determine the appropriate measures to implement and prevent recurrence.”
Hydrazine is used to strip oxygen from water in steam generators. It protects the generators from corrosion and keeps the proper water chemistry.
It’s not the first time hydrazine from Point Lepreau has been released. Two years ago, 23 barrels of water mixed with the chemical leaked into the Bay of Fundy.
Three weeks later, there was a radioactive spill in the plant when six litres of heavy water splashed to the floor.
At the time, the head of Canada’s Nuclear Safety Commission called the events “unsettling.”
The Nuclear Meltdown at Fukushima: Danger, Deception and Betrayal
We are grateful to Ian Thomas Ash for sparking a badly needed debate. His documentary is powerful and personal. The mothers and the radiation-badges wearing children of Fukushima speak the tragic voice of truth.
Evaggelos Vallianatos
Last month I watched a documentary on the March 11, 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. The showing of the 2013 documentary, A2-B-C, took place in a cafeteria of Pomona College where students gather at tables and speak foreign languages. I am a guest at the Greek table.
The American producer, Ian Thomas Ash, introduced his film and answered questions. He is young and unusually virtuous and talented. He sees himself as a witness of a tragedy he has to report to the world.
He said he felt morally obliged to document the effects of the horrific nuclear accident. That is the reason he is not married and without children. For the duration of filming he lived in the contaminated Fukushima prefecture with the affected local people. He ate the food they ate and drank the same water. In addition, he speaks Japanese and has lived in Japan for several years.
He admitted the focus of his documentary was not the actual disaster or the lethal nature of the nuclear power plants. Rather, he felt compelled to bring to life the nuclear meltdown through the eyes and feelings of mothers and children near the damaged Fukushima nuclear factories.
The story opens a few days after the disaster when Ian questions a government official about safety. The official reluctantly puts all the blame on science: that this is an enterprise beyond human control. “Nothing is certain,” the official says, “but I am telling you to feel safe.”
Then Ian returns to Fukushima eighteen months after the nuclear explosion. He talks and has dinner with mothers still living with their families in the radiation-contaminated zone.
The Fukushima mothers are angry. They speak of deception and betrayal. They resent
they have become the guinea pigs of the unholy alliance of the nuclear company and the state, which keep telling the mothers everything is under control.
The mothers see workers “decontaminating” radiation hot spots near their homes, but no one can guarantee their children will not get cancer. All the officials say is, “it’s safe, it’s safe.”
Meanwhile, we see Fukushima children on hospital beds being checked for thyroid cysts. Forty-four percent of the children are afflicted with thyroid cysts. Those children also suffer from severe nosebleeds and skin rashes. Each child carries a shining glass radiation badge hanging from his or her book bag.
Ian talked to some of those young children. They cheerfully explained the purpose of their radiation badges. “To warn us about the radiation in the playground,” they said. “Will we get leukemia and die?” they asked.
Ian also talked to a 17-year-old girl planning to study engineering. “I panicked when they found thyroid cysts on me,” she said.
Post-Fukushima costs hitting Florida Power & Light Co. customers
Monday, Nov. 4, 2013
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
This story continues the new premium website for subscribers only
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/post-fukushima-costs-hitting-fpl-customers/nbhPX/
NRC Proposed a $3,500 Fine for a Michigan Cardiology Practice Over Willful Violations of Regulations for Employee Radiation Dose Monitoring
“We cannot tolerate willful violations of NRC requirements nor lying to NRC inspectors,”
3,500 Dollars Fine (Proposed)
No: III-13-040 November 4, 2013
CONTACT: Viktoria Mitlyng 630-829-9662
Prema Chandrathil 630-829-9663
http://www.noodls.com/view/D770D7E7F4FE1D805EF9AA03517679091F01801C?rh=
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a fine of $3,500 for Jackson Cardiology Associates of Jackson, Mich. after finding a nuclear medicine technologist employed by the practice willfully violated NRC regulations by not wearing the required radiation dose monitoring badges and lying to an NRC inspector about it.
During a routine inspection on Aug. 20, 2012, an NRC inspector found the technologist without the required monitoring badges to measure occupational radiation dose. The technologist initially told the inspector she had left the badges at home. But during a follow-up inspection on Nov. 7, 2012, the technologist admitted she had lied to the inspector and said she lost the badges in February 2012.
The NRC’s Office of Investigations in a follow-up investigation found the technologist did not have her monitoring badges analyzed or replaced between the latter half of 2010 and June 2012. The investigation also found the technologist stopped wearing her monitoring badges in late June 2012, and she had not made payments to the vendor who analyzed Jackson Cardiology’s monitoring badges.
The first violation is for the technologist’s willful failure to wear the required badges; the second is for the technologist willfully providing the NRC with incomplete and inaccurate information about
her badges. The proposed fine is the base civil penalty for Severity Level III violations, the second to lowest of the NRC’s four severity levels. Jackson Cardiology has taken several corrective actions, including changing procedures for radiation monitoring reports and payments, retraining the technologist and increasing oversight and supervision.
“We cannot tolerate willful violations of NRC requirements nor lying to NRC inspectors,” said Cynthia Pederson, NRC Region III Administrator. “While the actual safety significance in this case was limited because of the low dose rates, the technologist’s actions kept Jackson Cardiology from following radiation exposure monitoring requirements and impacted the NRC’s regulatory inspection process.”
Jackson Cardiology has the option to deny the violations or request alternative dispute resolution with the NRC to resolve the issue.
– See more at: http://www.noodls.com/view/D770D7E7F4FE1D805EF9AA03517679091F01801C?rh=#sthash.UC7NnDgH.dpuf
Zevacor Molecular Awards IBA Contract to Build Only Commercial 70 MeV Cyclotron Dedicated to Medical Use in the United States
INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ —
Image source ; http://experimentsccb.ifj.edu.pl/?static=2
Zevacor Molecular, an independently owned healthcare firm that manufactures and distributes PET and SPECT radiopharmaceuticals, has purchased the first 70 MeV Cyclotron dedicated to medical use in the United States from Ion Beam Applications, S.A., (IBA).
The purchase of IBA’s Cyclone 70 is the first of several investments Zevacor is making to securethe future of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. The 70 MeV Cyclotron is expected to be operational in the fall of 2016 and will help to stabilize the domestic supply of medical isotopes needed to diagnose and treat critical illnesses.
In addition to the cyclotron, Zevacor will also invest in significant infrastructure to create a new, state of the art manufacturing facility to house the Cyclone 70 as well as other cyclotrons and manufacturing equipment.A location is expected to be determined by the end of 2013.
“This is just the beginning,” said John Zehner, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Zevacor Molecular. “With strategic investments like the purchase of the Cyclone 70, Zevacor and our partners will help hospitals improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other critical illnesses. Our goal is to support the current needs of the nuclear medicine and molecular imaging community and assist in the growth and development of new diagnostics and therapeutics.”
The main focus of the first 70 MeV Cyclotron will be the commercial manufacture of Strontium 82 to ensure ample, stable United States based supply of Strontium 82/Rubidium 82 generators for use in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. This important radiotracer has no current commercial supplier, and only has United States and foreign based supply from national labs.
Although the primary focus is the manufacture of Strontium 82, the Cyclone 70 is capable of producing a wide variety of other radionuclides for both research and clinical applications.
1 This Month
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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