nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Volunteers risk health in radiation cleanup outside Fukushima area

“The area itself is relatively highly contaminated,” Kodama says. “Many small children playing around the ground might touch some mud or in some case, eat some sand, which would result in internal radiation..”

Volunteers Take on Dangerous Job of Scrubbing Nuke Contamination, ABC News International. By  (@akikofujita), Aug. 12, 2011 Tatsuhiko Kodama’s voice shakes as he addresses volunteers at Ishigami Daini Kindergarten in the city of Minamisoma, 15 miles from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

The director of the University of Tokyo’s Radioisotope Center is training people how to decontaminate a school filled with radiation spewed from the nuclear reactors. He has explained the process a dozen times before, yet tears well up every time Kodama sees mothers donning masks, fathers taking notes with dosimeters in hand. Continue reading →

August 15, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Nuclear reactors’ impact on America’s fresh water supplies

Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Michael Mariotte, 12 Aug 11,  America’s aging power plants are not only the nation’s largest air polluters, they also withdraw more water than any other source, causing staggering aquatic impacts.  And nuclear reactors are the largest water users of them all.

Power plants’ toll on fisheries rivals, and in some cases exceeds, that of the fishing industry. Fortunately, none of this damage is necessary because modern closed-cycle cooling systems recirculate cooling water, reducing withdrawals and fish kills by about 95 percent.  Since 1972, Section 316(b) of the federal Clean Water Act has required power plants to use the Best Technology Available (BTA) to minimize the adverse environmental impacts of cooling water intake structures.

In 2001, EPA issued national regulations identifying closed-cycle cooling as BTA for new power plants.  But many older reactors, typically although not exclusively those built more than 30 years ago, still rely on antiquated and damaging once-through cooling systems, which withdraw water directly from its source but do not recycle it. Instead the water is thrown back into its source at far higher temperatures than it was when taken in.

For more information on the environmental devastation caused by once-through cooling at nuclear reactors, see Licensed to Kill, a report published by NIRS and other groups in 2001 and available here.

The rule EPA proposed on April 20, 2011 would be a step backward in our collective efforts to safeguard America’s waters. Basically, EPA has chosen the path of least resistance by caving into industry pressure and punting this issue to state agencies–agencies that too often lack the resources and the ability to stand up to industry on this issue. And if the Nuclear Energy Institute gets its way, things will get even worse. What is needed is a clear rule focused on modernizing power plants by stopping the use of once-through cooling.

Urge EPA to stand up for our waters and wildlife.  You can submit a  comment here urging EPA to adopt a strong standard for modernizing power plant cooling systems in its final rule.

www.nirs.org

August 13, 2011 Posted by | USA, water | Leave a comment

Safecast monitors Japan’s radiation levels, and sees it as a global issue

Despite the alarm inside Japan and abroad, specific information about radiation levels and its range are still mostly unavailable. This lack of information is what Safecast is trying to overcome…..

Global debate The Japanese government does not consider non-government readings to be authentic, and has urged the public to only rely on government data on radiation.

Bonner said: “Getting into this has showed us there is a lack of data everywhere.

“We’re going to start getting devices to people around the US and Europe. We’re going to set up fixed sensors and we’re making a device that we’ll sell to the public.

“We’re hoping to continue to get lots of data from lots of sources.”

Bonner’s ambitions appear timely against the backdrop of a revitalised global debate on the dangers of nuclear energy, especially in Japan.

“………..In the months since the catastrophe, the Japanese government, its nuclear watchdogs and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), have provided differing, confusing, and at times contradictory, information on critical health issues.

Fed up with indefinite data, a group of 50 volunteers decided to take matters, and Geiger counters, into their own hands.

In April, an independent network of like-minded individuals in the Japan and United States banded together to formSafecast and began an ongoing crusade to record and publish accurate radiation levels around Japan. Continue reading →

August 11, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | 1 Comment

India’s National Green Tribunal wants study of nuclear radiation’s effects

Green tribunal asks govt to study nuclear radiation, Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times, New Delhi, August 07, 2011 In a decision which could have wide environmental ramifications, the National Green Tribunal has asked the environment ministry to consider impact of nuclear radiation emanating from coal based power plants. The NGT order was following a submission regarding public hearing for environment
 clearance for thermal plant in Maharashtra, where study on nuclear radiation from the plant was not conducted.

The occurrence of adioactive substances from the sites of Thermal Power Plants in India have been been reported widely. A recent study by National Geophysical Laboratory found high quantity of nuclear radiation in Chandraapur Thermal power plant in Maharashtra.  …..

The tribunal has also asked the ministry to study the impact of radiaton on local population who live in close vicinit of the thermal plant. “We have been informed that there is large population residing within 2 to 3 KM from the project site,” the bench said….http://www.hindustantimes.com/Green-tribunal-asks-govt-to-study-nuclear-radiation/Article1-730553.aspx

August 9, 2011 Posted by | environment, India | Leave a comment

Canada’s public health risk due to nuclear radiation from Fukushima

radiation from Fukushima will lead to higher rates of cancer and other diseases among Canadians….“It’s not the risk to an individual that’s the problem but how much society is at risk. When you are exposing millions of people to an insult, even if the average dose is quite small, we are going to see fatal health effects,” …..

“The authorities don’t want people to have an understanding of this. The government of Canada tends to pooh-pooh the dangers of nuclear power because it is a promoter of nuclear energy and uranium sales.”

Japan’s Fukushima catastrophe brings big radiation spikes to B.C. | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com, By Alex Roslin, August 4, 2011 Nuclear impact   Monitoring stations catch a fraction of Fukushima fallout

After Japan’s Fukushima catastrophe, Canadian government officials reassured jittery Canadians that the radioactive plume billowing from the destroyed nuclear reactors posed zero health risks in this country. Continue reading →

August 5, 2011 Posted by | Canada, environment | Leave a comment

Danger to migratory fish, of Fukushima radiation in ocean

Japan’s Fukushima catastrophe brings big radiation spikes to B.C. | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com, By Alex Roslin, August 4, 2011  “……..TEPCO released 11,500 tons of radioactive water from its storage tanks into the Pacific Ocean on April 4. One aspect of the fallout and seawater contamination that remains unclear is how it might affect fish stocks, especially migratory species like salmon that could pass through poisoned areas of the ocean, eat irradiated prey, or have radioactive water dumped in their home ranges by Pacific currents.

Of the five species of Pacific salmon that are native to western North America, the sockeye is the most commercially prized. It also has the most wide-ranging migration route through the North Pacific, swimming for two to three years—as far as just northeast of the top of Japan—before coming back to its natal streams in Alaska, B.C., and the U.S. Northwest…..”
Japan’s Fukushima catastrophe brings big radiation spikes to B.C. | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com

August 5, 2011 Posted by | NORTH AMERICA, oceans | Leave a comment

Uranium miller wants to cease monitoring toxic waste area

Cotter asks to stop testing impoundment pond due to dangerous conditions – The Denver Post, by Bruce Finley, 4 Aug 11 Cotter Corp. managers of a uranium mill have asked state regulators to let them stop testing the acidity of a leaking toxic- and radioactive- waste impoundment pond — saying conditions have become too dangerous for workers…..

The Cotter efforts to reduce monitoring affect Colorado’s oversight of the cleanup because state regulators rely on company data instead of conducting independent tests.

Cotter is in the process of dismantling its shuttered uranium mill, located south of the Arkansas River near Cañon City.

With state permission, the company has been moving 90,000 gallons of radioactive sludge and solvents into the impoundment, although regulators know the impoundment is leaking. Liquid waste is mixed with a material resembling cat litter that renders it more solid….

Workers at the mill, built in 1958 with federal support, processed uranium for weapons and power plants. Cotter dumped waste in 11 unlined ponds, leading to contamination of groundwater, which spread to Cañon City.

Federal Environmental Protection Agency officials in 1984 declared the mill and surrounding area a Superfund environmental disaster — then entrusted state authorities with supervising the cleanup...Cotter asks to stop testing impoundment pond due to dangerous conditions – The Denver Post

August 5, 2011 Posted by | environment, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Fears of radioactive rice in Japan

Japanese rice crops threatened by radiation. Smart Planet, By David Worthington | August 1, 2011,  Local authorities in Japan are working to determine whether the country’s traditional staple crop is contaminated with unsafe levels of radioactive cesium. Continue reading →

August 4, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Widespread radiation contamination being monitered by Japanese civilians

Shinzo Kimura, the radiation expert who quit the Health Ministry. Mr. Kimura has since done extensive testing to see if Mrs. Okoshi’s readings were right. He says they are — and that is bad news.

Doubting Assurances, Japanese Find Radioactivity on Their Own,  NYTimes.com, 1 August 11,   “……. starting in April, Mrs. Okoshi began using her dosimeter to check nearby forest roads and rice paddies. What she found was startling. Near one sewage ditch, the meter beeped wildly, and the screen read 67 microsieverts per hour, a potentially harmful level. Mrs. Okoshi and a cousin who lives nearby worked up the courage to confront elected officials, who did not respond, confirming their worry that the government was not doing its job.

With her simple yet bold act, Mrs. Okoshi joined the small but growing number of Japanese who have decided to step in as the government fumbles its reaction to the widespread contamination, which leaders acknowledge is much worse than originally announced. Continue reading →

August 1, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | 1 Comment

Environmental impacts of uranium mining in Colorado for DOE study

DOE opens large-scale review of uranium mining, By Matthew Beaudin, Editor of the Telluride Daily Planet, July 31, 2011 The U.S. Department of Energy will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impacts of uranium mining and milling in southwestern  Colorado after much prodding from environmental groups.

Until now, the DOE reviewed the mining operations piecemeal rather than addressing the cumulative impacts of increased production in the region, which it made possible in 2008 with the renewal of its leasing program in the Uravan Mineral Belt, awarding or renewing 31 leases for mining-related activities over 25,000 acres between Naturita and Moab, Utah.
News : DOE opens large-scale review of uranium mining (Montrose, CO)

August 1, 2011 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

Fish killed by nuclear plant’s hot water release

Oyster Creek nuclear plant pump shuts down, resulting in fish kill, July 29, 2011, By Eliot Caroom/The Star-Ledger Pumps that cool water as it leaves the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant shut down yesterday evening, causing a rise in water temperature and a fish kill in a canal, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said today.

Electricity stopped due to a problem with the Jersey Central Power & Light grid, and the pumps shut down at 8:05 p.m., the a spokesman for the NRC said.

“Oyster Creek reduced reactor power to control discharge water temperatures, but a fish kill was subsequently identified in the canal,” said spokesman Neil Sheehan in an email.  Exelon said in a statement that 300 fish were lost due to the temperature rise…..Oyster Creek nuclear plant pump shuts down, resulting in fish kill | NJ.com

July 30, 2011 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

The radiation danger in seafoods

even at those low quantities the radioactive elements may pose a danger when concentrated in seafood,…..fish have been known to accumulate as much as 100 times the amount of pollutants in the environment,

Japan Scientists Say Sea Radiation Tests May Miss Seafood Threat, SF Gate,July 26 (Bloomberg) –– Japan’s government has to release more data from ocean radiation tests to accurately assess the contamination threat to seafood, according to a statement by the Oceanographic Society of Japan. Continue reading →

July 28, 2011 Posted by | Japan, oceans | 1 Comment

High radiation levels 150 km from Fukushima nuclear plant

High levels of radioactivity found extensively, NHK World, 21 July 11, Japan’s science ministry says air above the ground about 150 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is as radioactive as areas 50 kilometers from the source of radioactivity.

The ministry on Wednesday released a map showing radiation levels at locations one meter above the ground in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Fukushima, based on the results of an aerial survey from June 22nd through 30th.
Radioactivity levels are highlighted in different colors.Some parts of Kurihara City, about 150 kilometers north of the plant are light blue, indicating that the air there was 0.2 to 0.5 microsieverts per hour.

That’s similar to areas close to the crippled plant, such as Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture, about 50 kilometers from the radioactive source.

July 21, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | 1 Comment

Continued radioactive contamination of beef from Northern Japan

Japanese beef contamination widens, The Age, 16 July 11, MORE beef from cattle in Japan that ate straw tainted by radiation has found its way into the food supply, deepening concern about the safety of meat as the country struggles to contain the spread of the contamination.

Cattle at the farm in Asakawa, about 60 kilometres from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear station, were fed with rice straw containing 97,000 becquerels of caesium per kilogram, compared with the government standard of 300 becquerels, said Hidenori Ohtani at the livestock division of the Fukushima prefectural government.

The farm shipped 42 cattle in the past three months to slaughterhouses in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Miyagi prefectures, which were processed into meat and sold to distributors, he said.

The discovery comes a week after the Tokyo metropolitan government said it detected beef tainted by radiation for the first time, underlining the severity of contamination caused by the stricken station in Fukushima, site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Japan’s government might restrict beef shipments from all of Fukushima prefecture after the finding, Kyodo News has reported…..
http://www.theage.com.au/world/japanese-beef-contamination-widens-20110715-1hhye.html

 

July 16, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Safecast – citizen scientists monitor Japan’s radiation levels

Safecast took its first reading on April 16. Today, it has about 50 regular volunteers who collect data from their homes or while driving, build devices or assist in other ways. Those using vehicles equipped with Geiger counters cover an area that Franken estimates to be about 620 miles long by 185 miles wide. To date, they’ve collected 251,000 data points from their drives and fixed reporting stations, and have received about 60,000 more from other sources, including people with their own Geiger counters.

Japan’s citizen scientists map radiation, DIY-style, World Blog, By Miranda Leitsinger, Senior Writer and Editor, msnbc.com  13 July 11, With the Japanese government only providing spotty information about the radiation leaking from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in the early days after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, a group of tech-minded citizen scientists set out to fill in the “black holes” in the knowledge base. Continue reading →

July 13, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan, technology | 2 Comments

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »