Researchers and Energy policy advisors are strongly proposing a speed up of Ghana’s nuclear energy programme as the surest option to Ghana’s economic development, according to Ghana Web.
The country’s energy deficit could be decreased with the addition of nuclear energy, policy advisors expressed. Nuclear power plants could also eliminate the difficulties being faced by both industrial and domestic users and stabilize energy prices.
Increasing demand for electricity power supply is a result of population increases and industrial expansions, both of which are calls for accelerated measures to venture into nuclear power to ensure sustainable economic growth, said the news report.
The news article also cited Dr Robert B. M. Sogbadji, Head of Nuclear, Energy Efficiency and Conservation and Alternate Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum as one of the discussants at a seminar organised by Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MEST).
Sogbadji in his discussion aimed to dispel fears associated with nuclear energy production, saying the GAEC has a sound safety record, and nuclear security would strictly be observed as usual, as the commission has had the experience of managing its current nuclear energy reactor over the years and effectively utilizing it for medical, agricultural, industrial and other uses over the years.
We are fearful that this is a kind of witch-hunt with longer term implications to repress all kinds of popular struggles
In modern India any form of dissent from the neoliberal corporate model of development is being criminalised, writes Kumar Sundaram. Opponents of nuclear power, coal mines, GMOs, giant dams, are all under attack as enemies of the state and a threat to economic growth.
In the same week that France decided to lower its appetite for nuclear energy and increase its reliance on renewable sources, the Indian home ministry started hounding Greenpeace for its role in “stalling India’s development” by opposing nuclear power and genetically modified organisms.
A crackdown on other anti-nuclear networks like the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) and the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) is being widely anticipated.
The crackdown followed a confidential report by India’s premier internal intelligence agency, the Intelligence Bureau, titled ‘Concerning efforts by select foreign funded NGOs to ‘take down’ Indian development projects‘.
Stirring up a media frenzy
The 21-page report named a number of prominent anti-nuclear activists like Praful Bidwai, Achin Vanaik, Admiral Ramdas, and Surendra Gadekar as well as a number of organisations. Activists have raised questions about how the report made its way to the media before reaching the ministries and the Prime Minister’s office.
S. P. Udayakumar, a leading activist against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, has taken the Indian government to court, highlighting the serious threat to his life posed by the media frenzy over the report. He fears for his life, stating in a recent interview:
“I am a threat to nuclear energy. I am a threat to the global nuclear industry. The governments of India, Russia, France and America are all together now.
“We are a threat to all of them. Their business interests are hurt. They are going to dump their outdated technology on the hapless people of India. We point out their faults and so we are being targeted.
It’s all rubbish – but the danger is very real
“Unfortunately some people in this country believe these stories. That is the irony of it. This is becoming a threat to my life and to the security of my family. When they name me like this. When they call me – an Indian – a security threat for whatever reasons, it sends a wrong message to the wrong people.
“When I walk on the streets someone may say here goes a traitor and attack me. I might get killed. My school has been attacked twice. You know my people were attacked inside the Tirunelveli collector’s office in full view of the public.
“If something happens to me the Intelligence Bureau and the Government of India are responsible. By maligning me and putting my life at risk.”
Anti-nuclear activists organised a press conference in Delhi in late June calling the Intelligence Bureau report unacceptable “scare-mongering”on the part of the government to malign local agitations and to further repress them. Achin Vanaik, an academic and leading anti-nuclear voice, said:
“We are concerned that the ground is being prepared, by whom we cannot say, to oppose and discredit a whole range of popular movements by targeting NGOs that are providing support to such struggles and resistances. We are fearful that this is a kind of witch-hunt with longer term implications to repress all kinds of popular struggles.”
Orix Corp. (8591), a Tokyo-based finance and leasing company, may build two power stations in Japan to expand its capacity as a power retailer.
The plants — with 110 megawatts of capacity each — may be set up in Fukuoka and Fukushima prefectures and would use coal and woody biomass as fuel, Tamaki Shibata, a company spokeswoman, said by phone today.
The company will spend 50 billion yen ($491 million) on the two plants, the Sankei newspaper reported today. Providing a cost estimate at this time is premature, Shibata said.
Orix registered as a power retailer in 2009 and has been selling electricity to users with contracts of 50 kilowatts and above, according to Shibata. The company is planning to expand to homes and small stores once Japan’s retail power market is completely liberalized as early as 2016, the Sankei reported.
Orix is considering the move, though no decision has been made, Shibata said.
Arclight2011 notes that;
The alternative technology that they large Japanese corporations have for wind farms in Fukushima prefecture hopes to create 7 megawatts capacity, compared to the coal and wood burning 110 megawatt power plants. The construction of this wind turbine is in the initial phase and an update is here;
My respects to the UK Column team and I hope ATVOD will be rebuffed!
The Leveson inquiry promised that bloggers and internet groups would NOT be targeted but ATVOD has unilaterally changed the rules of the Leveson recommendations
In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami devastated the eastern coast of Japan. Thousands of people were killed, and scores more were displaced as a result of the natural disaster. The earthquake and resulting tsunami caused the meltdown of a nuclear power station located in Fukushima Prefecture. Radioactive material leaked into the Pacific Ocean, and the area surrounding the plant became irradiated. This led to the development of an exclusion zone around the plant, and the evacuation of cities near the stricken nuclear site.
But more than three years after the event, journalists still struggle to report on what exactly is going on with the region’s recovery and cleanup efforts. TEPCO, the utility that managed the nuclear reactor, has been criticized for not being forthcoming with the public, or with the victims of the tragedy … or, even with the government. Today on Global Journalist, we take a look at what’s going on in Fukushima, and look at some of the challenges reporters face in covering stories like these in Japan.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Los Alamos National Laboratory says it made mistakes in packing waste that has been linked to a radiation leak at the government’s underground nuclear waste dump, but it remains unclear if the violations or its use of organic cat litter to absorb moisture played a role in the accident.
In a letter released by state regulators Thursday, lab officials told the New Mexico Environment Department that their internal probe of the handling of the toxic waste from decades of nuclear bomb building has uncovered several violations of its Hazardous Waste Facility Permit. The lab says it failed to follow proper procedures in making the switch from inorganic to organic litter and in its lack of follow up on waste that tests showed to be highly acidic.
The shortcomings were described as “unacceptable” by Principal Associate Lab Director Terry Wallace, according to an internal memo.
Teams of scientists and engineers are still trying to determine exactly what caused a barrel from Los Alamos to burst, and whether the switch in cat litter helped fuel what is suspected to have been some kind of reaction in the highly acidic waste that also contained lead.
Despite hundreds of experiments to date, investigators have been unable to create any reaction that would have caused the container to leak like it did on Feb. 14, sending radioactive particles into the air above the half-mile deep repository and contaminating 22 workers with low levels of radiation.
The accident has also indefinitely shuttered the mine, which is the nation’s only permanent repository for plutonium-contaminated gloves, tools and clothing from the federal government’s nuclear facilities.
According to the memo obtained by The Associated Press, Wallace told employees at a meeting Monday that the probe is focused on 16 barrels of highly acidic, nitrate-salt-bearing waste, including the drum that leaked at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Ten of the other barrels are also underground at the mine in Carlsbad, New Mexico, while five are in temporary storage and under special monitoring at a private waste facility in Andrews, Texas.
Wallace is quoted in the memo as saying that a technical review “identified certain conditions that might potentially cause an exothermic reaction inside a drum. Among them are neutralized liquids, a low pH and the presence of metals.”
“The low pH findings should have prompted a pause in work to ensure appropriate technical and regulatory reviews of next steps,” Wallace said.
Wallace indicated that the lab’s focus is now on correcting the processes to prevent any recurrence. “We need to get this right and set best practices for the entire Complex.”
The state Environment Department said it was reviewing “these initial violations and plans to take appropriate actions once it concludes its independent review of the incidents at WIPP and LANL,” using acronyms for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, respectively.
The state investigation is just one of many into the leak and an underground truck fire six days earlier at the U.S. Department of Energy facility.
Initial probes by federal regulators identified a host of management and safety shortcomings at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
Labour have accused the party of contradicting their opposition to new nuclear projects after a senior Assembly Member visited the country
Senior Plaid Cymru Assembly Members have been accused of “rank hypocrisy” after joining a nuclear fact-finding trip to Japan despite outspoken opposition to nuclear energy.
The party has long been opposed to the construction of new nuclear power plants in Wales, but late in June its economic spokesperson Rhun ap Iorwerth travelled with delegates visiting the country.
His trip was paid for by the firm behind the controversial Wylfa B nuclear site planned for Anglesey, which he represents as an AM.
Calum Higgins, Welsh Labour’s prospective candidate to stand for the Carmarthen East and Dinefwr Westminster seat, said the trip flew in the face of Plaid Cymru’s policy and had undermined the party’s leadership.
He said: “Senior Plaid politicians going on international trips funded by nuclear power companies is rank hypocrisy.
“Plaid’s policy on nuclear power is clear.
“They oppose new nuclear development like Wylfa B, which would bring thousands of jobs and £10bn investment to Wales.
“Their own website professes: ‘We reaffirm our opposition to the construction of any new nuclear power stations in Wales’.
“That a member of Plaid’s ‘Cabinet in waiting’ has decided to disregard his leader and ignore his own party shows the clear splits at the top of the party.”
Plaid’s nuclear policies have been criticised since Mr Iorwerth announced his apparent support for plans to build a new reactor at the Wylfa Newydd site.
The new proposals were announced in Westminster, where powers to approve large-scale energy developments are held, in 2010.
A fresh reactor on the site was put forward as one of eight possible new nuclear reactor locations in the UK. Work would be carried out by Horizon Nuclear Power, a company which was implicated in the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
While running in last year’s by-election on the island, Mr Iorwerth said he supported development of the site if it was done “for the benefit of Anglesey”.
Labour’s Mr Higgins said this apparent disconnect between decisions on Anglesey and central Plaid views revealed a rift in the top tiers that needed to be put down by the party’s leader if future policy was to be believed.
He said: “Leanne Wood needs to explain if she approved this trip and why. She must also be clear on her party’s policy. Who should we believe: Plaid Cymru’s leader, or their economic spokesperson?”
The decision to travel to Japan has also been slammed by a senior Plaid Cymru figure, who spoke anonymously to the Wales Eye investigations blog.
They are reported to have said: “This is a complete nonsense. Voters believe, rightly, we are opposed to nuclear power yet here we are accepting junkets from nuclear companies because they may be creating a few new jobs.”
John Dixon, who was Plaid Cymru’s chair from 2002 to 2010, told Wales Eye the fresh controversy showed the party’s policy on nuclear energy was incoherent. He said: “On nuclear energy, whether the party is for or against depends on who you speak to.”
But Mr Iorwerth said he joined the delegates visiting Japan so he could properly represent the people of Anglesey and ensure their interests were promoted.
He said: “My role is to be as objective as possible about the challenges and opportunities of continued power generation at Wylfa.
“It was vital in my role as AM representing all of the people of Anglesey to be a part of the delegation to Japan.
“There was much opportunity for frank discussion, and the interests of the people of Anglesey were at the core of my contribution to those discussions.”
How to start World War 3?Step 1) Hack IDF Twitter account; Step 2) Tweet that Israel’s secret nuclear facility has suffered a potential leak after shelling; Step 3) wait for US response… It appears (though for now has not been confirmed) that the Israel Defense Force’s Twitter account was hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army who then tweeted “#WARNING: Possible nuclear leak in the region after 2 rockets hit Dimona nuclear facility” The Tweet was deleted soon after – not before all major newswires picked it up – and the report has been denied by the IDF. We can only imagine the market response to this tweet if US traders were not all out buying beers and burgers..
The Tweet was deleted minutes later after this image (of the Syrian Electronic Army) was tweeted…
and this…
But The IDF was quick to note it was not correct…
Israeli army is investigating how posting appeared on its official Twitter account saying there was risk of nuclear leak after rocket hit Dimona facility, military spokesman says on condition of anonymity in accordance with regulation.
Tweet was later deleted; army spokesman declines to comment on possibility the official account was hacked
Study shows muddy seabed off Fukushima coast has higher levels of contamination
July 03, 2014
“We are learning that the nuclear accident didn’t contaminate the entire ocean, but created spots that tend to have higher radioactive levels than others,” said Blair Thornton, a researcher from the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Industrial Science. “We want to continue investigating.”
The Hanoitimes – The Netherlands exceeded Spain to become the third largest importer of Vietnamese tuna in the bloc.
Vietnam’s tuna exports to the Netherlands hit nearly 8.9 million USD in the first four months of this year, representing a year-on-year surge of 123 percent, in spite of an overall decrease in the European Union .
Therefore, the Netherlands exceeded Spain to become the third largest importer of Vietnamese tuna in the bloc.
The General Department of Vietnam Customsattributed the surge to an impressive rise of as high as 396 percent in the export of tuna fillet in the context of dropping shipment of other tuna products.
Statistics from the Netherland-based International Trade Centre showed that over the past five years, the European country recorded an increase of 143 percent in tuna imports, becoming the world’s 11 th biggest importer of this product.
During the first half of the year, overall tuna imports (excluding canned tuna) remained below last year’s level in Japan. Imports of fresh and frozen tuna, including loins, totalled 113 162 tonnes compared with 129 410 tonnes imported in the same period in 2012.
Notably, imports of all types of frozen tuna, except albacore, remained below last year’s levels during the January to June period in 2013. Supply shortfall for frozen skipjack was particularly high at – 47%.
Despite the weakening yen, imports of red meat quality frozen tuna loins were stable during the first half of the year. Supplies during this period increased from the Republic of Korea and China but dropped significantly from Fiji and also from Indonesia. Viet Nam was the only source that increased supply from Southeast Asia.
Beth Grant will join Walmart as director of Global Seafood
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] July 3, 2014
Beth Grant, a veteran seafood buyer who is well known in the industry, is leaving US Foods to join Walmart as director of global seafood, reports Tom Seaman of Undercurrent News. Walmart confirmed the move.
Jeff Franzblau, who was director of Seafood Category Management at US Foods earlier left the company to move to Restaurant Supply Chain Solutions – the buying firm for Yum! brands…
The Hanoitimes – Vietnam’s proposed nuclear power program remains controversial, with a number of issues hotly debated: Does the country really need to build a new 15-20 MW research reactor? Who will be Vietnam’s partners? Which technologies should be used for the reactor and where should it be located?
No need for a high-capacity reactor right now
Vietnam already has a nuclear reactor. The research reactor, in the city of Da Lat,serves some important functions – preparing the labor force for the nuclear power program, carrying out basic research, making radioactive isotopes, , taking neutron pictures, conducting neutron beam research and testing materials.
In terms of training, a high-capacity reactor offers no real advantage over a reactor with low capacity, like Da Lat’s present reactor.
Helium has many uses besides filling children’s birthday balloons–it’s importantly used in MRI machines, wafer manufacturing, and welding. Helium is also used to cool the Large Hadron Collider–120 tons of liquid helium, to be exact–and other particle accelerators that teach us about how the smallest bits of matter behave.
Helium-3, an isotope or form of helium with two protons and one neutron, is especially useful for low-temperature physicists, who use this substance to research quantum properties, and its study has provided breakthroughs in understanding “hydrodynamics of intricately ordered systems, the microscopic theory of electrons in metals” and more. The price of this isotope remained stable for decades at a price of about $100 per liter, as reported by Nature Physics. But then something happened:
But after 11 September 2001, in the interest of national security, the US government started using helium-3-based neutron detectors (‘radiation portal monitors‘) to uncover any potential bomb-making components entering the country. That increased demand, coupled with a large order from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2008, suddenly revealed that the US Department of Energy was allocating helium-3 faster than it could be produced. In 2008, the demand reached 80,000 litres, becoming unsustainable.
Since then, the U.S. has scaled back the use of the substance in these monitors, but there is not enough of both regular helium and helium-3 to go around. Researchers are adapting by “using cryogen-free technology that (although prone to vibration) is compatible with dilution refrigerators and superconducting magnets,” Nature reported. Helium-3 derives from the decay of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen produced in the production of nuclear weapons–as nuclear weapon production has fallen, so has helium-3 abundance. It can also be found on the moon, so if we ever needed a plentiful supply of helium-3, we could get it there. But that would obviously be quite an undertaking.
The situation is worse today (for both helium and helium-3) than it when it was declared “unsustainable” in 2008, and that price has gone up by a factor of 2.5 each year since then. And demand is increasingly outstripping supply (for example, Cornell scientist Robert Richardson said that helium balloons will one day cost $100). So, physicists will have to start using less, writes Northwestern University William Halperin writes in Nature. That means funding will have to be found for projects to use new methods for keeping stuff cool, or technology to conserve helium and prevent it from evaporating.
The situation may get much worse beginning in 2021, Halperin writes. That year, the U.S. is set to close its strategic reserve of helium, which it draws from to alleviate market pressures.
YEREVAN—The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has indicated its support for the Technetium 99m Medical Isotope Production Project at the newly formed Medical Isotope Production Division of the Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI). The research and production program will use an 18 MeV (million electron-volt) proton beam of an IBAC18 cyclotron particle accelerator to be installed at a newly renovated facility of the physics institute by the end of 2014. The Technetium is produced by irradiating Molybdenum with a proton beam from the cyclotron.
Technetium (99mTe) is the most widely used isotope for medical imaging today with over 30 million diagnostic medical imaging scans every year world-wide. When injected into patients it produces radiation similar to x-rays which are used to image internal organs. This isotope has a half-life of 6 hours, meaning that half of the remaining isotope decays every 6 hours. Thus 94% of the Technetium injected into a patient decays within 24 hours resulting in minimal radiation exposure. Exposure is about the same as from an x-ray.
According to the Scientific Center of Radiation Medicine and Burns, Armenian Ministry of Health, the need in Armenia for the isotope 99mTe is 5,000 doses per year. Due to its rapid decay, and due to the fact that currently this isotope must be shipped from abroad, there is in Armenia only enough of this isotope to treat 1,000 patients per year. Thus 80% of Armenian patients have no access to this medical imaging technology. There is, in Armenia, a need for a non-stop supply of the isotope 99mTe.
The goal of the Isotope Production Division of the Yerevan Physics Institute is to develop the technology of direct 99mTe production in order to cover the need of Armenian clinics and their patients. Senior scientists at the Yerevan Physics Institute, together with recent physics and engineering graduates and graduate students are preparing the facilities for the manufacture, purification, and testing of this isotope in a newly equipped laboratory at the institute’s facilities in Yerevan. Special efforts are being implemented to assure quality and safety. This project is one of many bringing the benefits of science to the Armenian public.
BLAIR, Neb. (AP) — The hail storm that hit Blair last month caused roughly $5 million damage to the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant in eastern Nebraska.
The Omaha Public Power District says that damage estimate could still change because repair bids haven’t been received for some work.
The June 3 storm damaged homes and vehicles with baseball-sized hail and winds stronger than 90 mph.
OPPD spokesman Jeff Hanson said the storm didn’t disrupt the nuclear power plant’s operations.
But Hanson said the hail damaged the roof of the administration building, broke some windows and also damaged rooftop air conditioners and other equipment.
The storm also caused significant damage to utility vehicles that were parked at the complex.
OPPD has a $2.5 million deductible on its insurance policy the utility will have to pay.
Boko Haram was relatively unknown and did not have the capacity, means or network needed to orchestrate any serious attacks in Nigerian until it was hijacked by foreign backers and some disgruntled local politicians who have so far provided training, weapons and cash to some local extremists who are presently in hiding and directing attacks.
Vice President Namadi Sambo has stated that Nigeria has ventured into developing nuclear science in the country for rapid socio-economic development
He was speaking in his office at the State House Abuja when he received the visiting Deputy Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mr. Kweku Aning who paid him a courtesy call.
The vice president noted that the importance of the Nuclear energy could not be overemphasized as Nigeria was developing her nuclear science. He said that with a vast population, there was the need to develop the country’s nuclear science to optimal utilization for, growth and development in all sectors of the economy.
Earlier, Mr. Kweku Aning had taken time to elaborate on the areas of cooperation between IAEA and the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission. Having stressed the importance of the nuclear technology in saving life and supporting credible performance in all sectors, he added that they were in cooperation with Nigeria in the Health sector as most people believed that HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis were the greatest health challenges in developing countries but that cancer being a complicated disease is expensive to diagnose and claims about 4.8 million people annually compared to HIV/AIDS 2.1million, malaria 700,000 and tuberculosis 900,000.
He noted that the normal standard for the diagnostic facility is one for 500,000 people and that everyone involved in this specialized technology; the doctors, nurses and other support staff must be specially trained.
Other areas he elaborated on were areas of cooperation including food and agriculture, which technology could develop species that were resistant to certain pests, the use of radiation to extend or preserve the lifespan of food products.
On nuclear power, he noted that Nigeria had energy deficit which needed to be filled and that they were working with his colleagues in the Atomic Energy Commission to provide the enabling environment for ensuring protection and emergencies. He added that they were working together on technology that could determine the magnitude of water resources on the ground weather it is fossil or replenished water.
Present at the meeting were Dr Erepamo Asaisai, Prof Mathew Agu, Bello Abdul Gamawa and Bakori Idris all of the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC). Others were Musugeta Amha of IAEA and Abimbola Raji Counselor, Nigeria Embassy Mission in Vienna Austria.
Breaking News Former President Is Boko Haram Backer – Source
Boko Haram, the extremist Nigerian Islamic group, operating in Northern Nigeria is being financed and backed by a former Prime Minister and President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Reports has gathered from a top security source. The 70-year-old Sunni Muslim, who ruled Mauritania both as Prime Minister and Pres, ident before he was ousted in 2005 by a military coup has been identified by Nigerian intelligence services as a key facilitator, motivator and backer of the faction of the radical group which says it wants full Islamic law enthroned in all northern states in Nigeria.
nuclear-news 