Tokyo nuclear company withdraws libel suit against freelance writer
NUCLEAR INDUSTRY BUSINESSMAN WITHDRAWS LIBEL SUIT AGAINST FREELANCER http://en.rsf.org/japan-nuclear-industry-businessman-16-08-2013,45056.html REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS WELCOMES THE DECISION BY SHIRO SHIRAKAWA, THE HEAD OF THE NUCLEAR security systems company New Tech, to withdraw a libel suit against freelance journalist Minoru Tanaka. A Tokyo court has accepted the withdrawal, announced on 12 August.
“This libel suit was an attempt by an influential member of Japan’s nuclear industrial complex, known as the ‘nuclear village,’ to harass and intimidate Tanaka into silence and self-censorship,” Reporters Without Borders said.
“We are pleased that it did not work but we continue to be concerned for other journalists who try to cover the sensitive issue of Japan’s nuclear industry. There are still too many cases of reporters being pressured or censored when they try to provide information about the Fukushima disaster and its aftermath.
“The damages award Tanaka was facing if found guilty of libelling Shirakawa was clearly out of all proportion. We urge the courts to reject such ‘gag suits’ or ‘SLAPPs’ if they continue to be filed, and to propose proportionate alternatives such as the publication of a response.”
Shirakawa sued Tanaka, 52, over a December 2011 article for the weekly Shukan Kinyobiheadlined “The last big fixer, Shiro Shirakawa, gets his share of the TEPCO nuclear cake” – TEPCO being the owner of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant that suffered meltdowns after a tsunami in March 2011.
Using information in the public domain, the article accused Shirakawa of making a lot of money by acting as an intermediary between TEPCO, construction companies, politicians such as the leading parliamentarian Kamei Shizuka, and even clandestine organizations.
Ever since the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster, freelance journalists who cover the nuclear industry have had their access to information restricted and have, for example, been prevented from covering anti-nuclear demonstrations.
Reporters Without Borders issued several press releases condemning the judicial harassment of Tanaka, who was sued for 67 million yen (600,000 euros) in damages.
Court rules that NRC must review Yucca nuclear waste plan
Court Keeps Yucca Mountain in Play http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323446404579011122577985720.html WSJ, TENNILLE TRACY and KEITH JOHNSON, 13 Aug 13 WASHINGTON—A federal court on Tuesday directed the Obama administration to revive consideration of the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste project in Nevada, breathing new life into a long-running controversy over a final resting place for the country’s roughly 70,000 metric tons of spent commercial nuclear fuel.
The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was “simply flouting the law” by refusing to take up a Yucca Mountain license application roughly five years after it was submitted by the Bush administration.
The Obama administration has attempted to abandon the project, in part because it wants local support for any nuclear-waste repository and Yucca Mountain faces opposition in Nevada.
The appeals court, citing a 1982 law directing the NRC to complete reviews within three years of an application, said “the president and federal agencies may not ignore statutory mandates or prohibitions merely because of policy disagreements.”
The ruling doesn’t guarantee that Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, will move forward. Rather, it applies pressure on Congress to finally decide the project’s fate since it controls its funding. Continue reading
Public Service Board may find Vermont nuclear plant “not in the public good”
the ruling affirmed that the Public Service Board has a say in the future of the plant, based on whether the plant’s operation is in the public’s interest.
the court’s decision clearly leaves the Public Service Board with authority over the plant.
“There’s a valid basis for the Public Service Board to find it’s not in the public good to operate the plant,”
Vermont Yankee focus shifts to Public Service Board after appeal court ruling, Burlington Free Press, 14 Aug 13 Appeals court: Legislature overstepped authority 
regarding Vermont Yankee All eyes are on a state Public Service Board decision expected later this year after a federal appeals court rejected the Legislature’s efforts to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
Although the state tried to argue otherwise, the court ruled Wednesday that legislators were overwhelmingly concerned with nuclear safety as they sought to close the Vernon plant when its license expired in 2012. States have no authority over nuclear safety, which is regulated by the federal government.
“We conclude that Vermont lawmakers have undertaken a sustained effort to shut down Vermont Yankee based on this impermissible reason,” a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stated in its decision. “We have considered the legislative history … and found that it contains innumerable expressions of concern for radiological safety from Vermont legislators and regulators.”
The 53-page ruling, which affirmed a 2012 decision from Judge J. Garvan Murtha at U.S. District Court in Brattleboro, dealt another blow to the state’s effort to have a say in the fate of Vermont Yankee……. Continue reading
Court rules against Vermont State’s attempt to close nuclear plant
Court: Vt. Can’t Use Law to Close Nuclear Plant abc news, MONTPELIER, Vt. August 14, 2013 (AP)By DAVE GRAM Associated Press Vermont’s attempts to close its lone nuclear power plant were deceptive and misleading, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in largely upholding a lower-court ruling against the state.
State legislators passed laws in 2005, 2006 and 2008 making it harder for the Vermont Yankee plant to win permission to operate for another 20 years. They were concerned about the plant’s safety but tried to hide that because they were aware that nuclear safety is the sole province of the U.S. government under federal law, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote.
There was “obvious coaching of Vermont legislators to avoid explicit statements about nuclear safety,” the court wrote.
A state board is expected to rule this year on whether allow the plant to continue operating, but the laws passed last decade injected the Legislature into the state’s decision-making process. They require that lawmakers vote to approve the plant’s continued operation.
Plant owner New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. has argued in court that the state has no say over whether to keep the plant open and points to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to extend the plant’s license to operate in 2011…….
Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell called the ruling disappointing. He said the state could ask the full appeals court to reconsider the three-judge panel’s decision, or, more likely, appeal the decision directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sandra Levine of the Conservation Law Foundation, one of several New England-based groups seeking the plant’s closure, called the decision “a disappointing failure to allow Vermont a stronger say in regulating this tired old plant on the banks of the Connecticut River.” http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/court-vt-law-close-nuclear-plant-19957625
Petition to NRC – Pilgrim Nuclear plant can’t afford safety costs
“In recent months, an escalating number of equipment failures, especially related to Fitzpatrick’s condenser have made the plant unreliable and have unduly put the public at risk,” Jessica Azulay, of the Alliance for a Green Economy, said. “We believe the dire financial situation at Fitzpatrick is an underlying cause.
PILGRIM STATION: Can Entergy afford Pilgrim Petition says ‘no’By Frank Mand Wicked Local Plymouth
Aug 14, 2013 PLYMOUTH —
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review a petition alleging that Pilgrim-owner Entergy no longer meets the NRC’s minimum financial standards for safely operating nuclear power plants.
The petition groups Pilgrim with two other Entergy-owned plants, Vermont Yankee and the James A. Fitzpatrick facility in upstate New York.
The four petitioners – Citizens Awareness Network, Alliance for a Green Economy, Vermont Citizens Awareness Network and Duxbury-based Pilgrim Watch – were denied their request for an immediate shutdown of the reactors, but the NRC is allowing their petition to move to the next step in the review process. Continue reading
Duke Energy cancels nuclear power projects, agreement includes payout to customers
Duke Energy Settlement with Consumer Advocates Affects Nuclear, Coal Plants POWERnews, 7 Aug 13, A revised settlement agreement reached between Duke Energy Florida, the Office of Public Counsel, and other consumer advocates addresses cost recovery issues related to a retired nuclear reactor, a proposed nuclear project, and two coal units.
Duke will also terminate the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) agreement for the cancelled Levy nuclear project. And it will write off $295 million associated with Crystal River 3 and $65 million related to the wholesale allocation of investments in the Levy nuclear plant.
Under terms of the mediator’s proposal, customers and the Crystal River 3 joint owners will receive $835 million in insurance proceeds—the largest claim payout in the history of NEIL.
Duke Energy also definitively cancelled a 2008-proposed plan to built two 1,100-MW reactors in Levy County, Fla…….http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/Duke-Energy-Settlement-with-Consumer-Advocates-Affects-Nuclear-Coal-Plants_5829.html
Africa, a future nuclear insurance “gravy train”
Posted by nuclear-news.net
Date 5 August 2013
by Arclight2011part2
On Nuclear-news.net we have covered many stories concerning Africa and the Nuclear aspirations of this dark continent. I say dark because at night it is the only continent not lit up by street lighting and advertisements.
From the corporations point of view this is a new continent to develop using western choices of energy that that includes nuclear power options.
The IAEA is even going to approve a nuclear reactor in Ghana, that is one of the few earthquake zones in NW Africa (information on link)
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/07/04/ghana-lines-up-for-nuclear-cash-hand-outs/
And here is an example of how the Nuclear/mining industries have contaminated large areas of Africa and in these articles ;
But nuclear materials are already proliferate over Africa in the form of food irradiation processes, medical and industrial uses to name but a few. And many wonder of the security implications of this.
Of course the nuclear industry is bigger than just the technology.
There are Insurance, financial services, military and security corporations connected to having nuclear power and a lot of money can be made by these organisations.
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/05/09/the-naked-truth-about-nuclear-accident-insurance/
https://nuclear-news.net/2010/09/30/how-tax-payer-money-funds-the-nuclear-industrys-expansion/
The IAEA has been helping to develop nuclear technology in Africa and sets the ground for these corporations to step in. The IAEA works with the big nuclear powers in a bid to solve the waste crisis with the MOX fuel system.
Selling hundreds of reactors to light up the African night, running off the waste products of the domestic, medical and military uses of nuclear materials from the west. Even as western energy companies such as EDF are being forced to invest in wind and solar energy due to financial and environmental concerns;
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/08/02/nuclear-company-switching-to-renewable-energy-in-usa/
https://nuclear-news.net/2010/12/27/off-grid-small-scale-solar-energy-in-huts-in-africa/
The Insurance companies do well on these deals as there is a cap on the amount that needs to be paid out to victims of the nuclear fuel cycle. To give an example of this payment system at work, the British Nuclear Test Veterans got around £6,000-$12,000 per head for their radiation induced damages (including genetic damage to future off spring) Link to the BNTV report to be found here ;
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/07/22/british-nuclear-test-veterans-silenced/
The affected Japanese from Fukushima expect to receive under £3000 or-$6000 per head in a country that is more expensive to live in than th UK and has higher cost implications for future health problems.
However the children and pregnant women will get under £5000 or $10,000 as they are likely to develop thyroid problems including cancer and have miscarriages etc.
It is interesting to note the similarity in the payments to those victims affected in the UK and Japan. I have seen no quotes for Miyagi prefecture so far though;
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/06/04/compensation-for-fukushima-evacuees-radiation-anxiety/
In fact, the Insurance liability caps system are not welcome everywhere and it is a point of contention that the insurance companies want to limit the costs to them, so that the nuclear financial and insurance “gravy train” is not interrupted.
Here is an example of dissension against the western corporate nuclear insurance/finance industry;
Fight to stop Nuclear Regulatory Commission overriding the Supreme Court
Attorneys General Fight for Public Access in Nuclear Issues http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-witherspoon/san-onofre-nuclear-issues_b_3691767.html Roger Witherspoon 08/02/2013 The Attorneys General of New York and Vermont have joined the fight against California’s San Onofre nuclear power plant in an effort to stop federal regulators from erasing all record of a judicial ruling that the public has a right to intervene before major amendments are granted to an operating license.
If the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants the request of their staff to vacate the ruling of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board and expunge the record, it will eliminate a precedent that affects power plant operations and regulatory practices around the country. In particular, it will affect the six-year fight in New York to shut the Indian Point power plants 25 miles north of New York City; and Vermont’s ongoing effort to shut the Vermont Yankee power plant.
The cross-country battle now being waged by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell is an uphill fight against one of the most powerful professional staffs in the US government and an agency that has a unique view of its own independence.
“The Commission has stated that it is not bound by judicial practice, including that of the United States Supreme Court,” stated Schneiderman and Sorrell in a brief filed June 24 with the NRC challenging the staff request. Continue reading
Punishing Bradley Manning to deter other whistleblowers
“It seems clear that the government was seeking to intimidate anyone who might consider revealing valuable information in the future,”
WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says Bradley Manning’s spy convictions are ‘national security extremism’ news.com.au 31 July 13 ” ….. From the courtroom to world capitals, people absorbed the meaning of a verdict that cleared the soldier of a charge of aiding the enemy, which would have carried a potential life sentence, but convicted him on other counts that, together, could also mean a life behind bars.
“It is a dangerous precedent and an example of national security extremism,” he told reporters at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, which is sheltering him. “This has never been a fair trial.” Continue reading
Veterans exposed to radiation at Antarctic Naval Base
Federal hearings exploring radiation exposure among McMurdo Navy veterans get underway in Washington http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/federal-hearings-exploring-radiation-exposure-among-mcmurdo-navy-veterans-get-underway-in-washington Prompted by exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation Ron Regan, newsnet5.com WASHINGTON – Federal hearings prompted by an exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation into radiation exposure among McMurdo Navy veterans are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning.
Our investigative series revealed how a nuclear reactor at McMurdo Naval base in Antarctica continued to leak radiation for years and a possible link to cancer.
Our report documented 432 malfunctions at the plant from 1964 through 1972 while thousands of Navy veterans were stationed there.
Complaints from veterans dying from cancer were ignored by the Veterans Administration until our report exposed the radiation leaking that Navy veterans said was kept secret for decades.
Veterans have hope the hearings will provide them with assistance in compensation for their medical bills.
On Tuesday, the Veterans Advisory Board on Dose Reconstruction will discuss its final report and finding regarding the leaking nuclear reactor and veterans cancer.
Indian Point nuclear plant tests fabricated – former supervisor charged
Ex-supervisor at Indian Point nuclear plant charged with fabricating fuel tests http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-supervisor-indian-point-nuclear-plant-charged-fabricating-fuel-tests-article-1.1406963 Daniel Wilson, 57, the Westchester County plant’s chemistry manager from 2007 to 2012, was charged in Federal Court in White Plains with two counts of violating rules of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. BY BILL HUTCHINSON / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2013, 5:11 PM A FORMER CHEMISTRY MANAGER AT THE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR PLANT IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY ALLEGEDLY FABRICATED FUEL TESTS TO PREVENT THE FACILITY FROM BEING SHUTTERED.
An ex-supervisor at the Indian Point nuclear plant was arrested Tuesday on charges he fabricated fuel tests on backup generators to prevent the facility from being shut down.
Daniel Wilson, 57, the Westchester County plant’s chemistry manager from 2007 to 2012, was charged in Federal Court in White Plains with two counts of violating rules of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
New Mexico court ruling against uranium mine permit
Judge overturns uranium mine permit http://www.abqjournal.com/main/224658/abqnewsseeker/judge-overturns-uranium-mine-permit.html By Associated Press on Tue, Jul 23, 2013 SANTA FE (AP) — A lawyer for environmental groups say a Santa Fe judge has overturned a decision by Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration granting a permit for a uranium mine to remain inactive without any cleanup.
Eric Jantz of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center said District Judge Raymond Ortiz’s decision on Monday will send the case back to the state Mining and Minerals Division for further public hearings.
The agency renewed a standby permit last year for Rio Grande Resources’ Mount Taylor mine near Grants.
The judge ruled Amigos Bravos and the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment weren’t adequately allowed to raise issues about protecting ground water from contamination from mining waste piles.
The judge also said the agency wrongly kept a company report confidential on the mine’s economic viability.
Criminal charges against India’s Kudankulam anti nuclear protestors
Kudankulam: Criminal cases against nuclear plant protestors to stay A Subramani, TNN | Jul 23, 2013 CHENNAI: The situation in Kudankulam is neither conducive nor ripe for withdrawal of criminal cases registered against the anti-nuclear power plant activists, the Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras high court on Tuesday.
When three PILs seeking fulfillment of 15 conditions laid down by the Supreme Court prior to the operationalisation of the nuclear power plant and also for withdrawal of cases against the agitating activists came up for hearing before the first bench, advocate general of Tamil Nadu A L Somayaji said: “The stage is not ripe for withdrawal of criminal cases already filed.”
Somayaji told the bench comprising acting Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan that the agitators faced cases for snatching a pistol, holding ‘marana porattam’ (stir unto death) and fishing boycott. He said their agitations continued even after the apex court ruling and they were targeting the unit-II of the plant as well.
Pointing out that the tenor of the apex court’s condition no. 14 that endeavours should be made to withdraw cases against the agitators was different from other conditions such as AERB and NPCIL clearances for operationalisation of the plant, Somayaji said there was no positive sign for the state government to drop the cases. ……http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Kudankulam-Criminal-cases-against-nuclear-plant-protestors-to-stay/articleshow/21280617.cms?
Now for the legal wrangles over the costs of San Onofre nuclear plant
Fallout Over Nuclear Energy Debacle Underway Forbes, Ken Silverstein, 19 July 13 It’s not a bombshell. But it is the fallout from the retirement of two nuclear units dotting Southern California’s coastline. Southern California Edison has just filed a so-called Notice of Dispute on its former vendor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It is the first step toward gaining a settlement in what has become a huge blemish on the nuclear energy sector — the leakage of radiation at one of the units and the subsequent revelation that both companies had known about the underlying causes years before the incident. If the two are unable to reconcile, the case would then go to mandatory arbitration before it could get tried before a judge and jury. Judicial systems, though, are not prepared to resolve complex nuclear energy questions.
“Our action is about making sure that Mitsubishi takes responsibility for providing the defective steam generators that led to the closing of SONGS,” says Ron Litzinger, president of SCE, in a formal declaration.
SONGS refers to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station owned by Southern California Edison. …. Edison is alleging that Mitsubishi, as designer and manufacturer of the steam generators, is responsible for the economic damages. …..
The price tag associated with all the woes: Estimated to be at least $700 million and as much as $2 billion. Just how will that be paid? Chairman Ted Craver explained on an earlier conference call that there are potentially four pools of money: ratepayers, shareholders, insurance companies and Mitsubishi Heavy………
Friends of the Earth which had led the attack on the utility since the leak, has said that Southern California Edison has been “untruthful.” The environmental organization has also said that while Mitsubishi does not have “clean hands” here, it merely designed the steam generators to meet the utility’s specifications.
The environmental organization added that the utility downplayed the design changes it had made so as to avoid public hearings, and scrutiny. In addition, it is highly critical that Edison denied any knowledge of issues with excessive vibrations — until the leaks surfaced in 2012. As a result of all this, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the California Public Utility Commission and, perhaps, the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating. It’s a huge legal morass — and one that court system is unaccustomed to hearing. That’s why the two sides should amicably resolve their dispute. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2013/07/19/fallout-over-nuclear-energy-debacle-underway/2/
New Zealand’s and other countries’ veterans, victims of Mururoa nuclear tests
In April 2006, the Herald reported Dr Rowland saying a small but statistically significant level of genetic damage had been found.
“Taking all confounding factors [like smoking, alcohol and medical x-rays] into account, we are left with only one other interpretation of what it is about this group that’s different to the control group: they went to Operation Grapple.”
His work on chromosome damage – the first step in the formation of cancer – gave hope of compensation to thousands of men from Britain, Australia, Fiji and New Zealand.
The research was commissioned by Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association chairman Roy Sefton, who sought Government acknowledgment that men were harmed in their teens and had no choice on whether they went to Mururoa.
Tony Cox, who was on HMNZS Otago and heads the Rimpac veterans’ rights organisations, said an attempt was being made to convert Dr Rowland’s findings to apply to the Mururoa veterans.
“Just because the Government did not accept the Rowland study does not mean that it can’t come up for a review.”
Mr Cox said he had cancer of a type that was contracted only through exposure to ionised radiation…
Mururoa – our darker legacy New Zealand Herald By Wayne Thompson Jul 19, 2013 A band of men who “drove the taxis” – the naval frigates carrying the official New Zealand protesters against French nuclear testing in the air of the Pacific Ocean – will be in a sombre and angry mood at their 40th anniversary reunion in Tauranga tomorrow.
“Our feeling in 1973 was there was one protester, Government minister Fraser Colman,” said one of the former crew members of HMNZS Canterbury, Wayne O’Donnell.
“We were there just to keep the ship going and do what we were employed to do.
“By the time the blast was observed we were glad to head home.
“We did not expect any major radiation fallout, which has been proven wrong.” Continue reading
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