Despite safety doubts, China resumes building big nuclear power plant
China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a report in
October that the country’s nuclear safety situation was “not
optimistic”, and that the use of differing types of reactors in
Chinese plants made the sector “difficult to manage”.
China resumes construction of ‘biggest’ nuclear plant Australia
Network News, 4 Jan 13 Chinese state media says the country has
resumed construction of a nuclear power plant suspended after the 2011
Fukushima disaster. Continue reading
Just what are the UK govt’s plans for relocating nuclear submarines?
Vote yes for a nuclear free England, January 04, 2013 by Rev. Stuart
Campbell In a slightly surprising development reported late this
afternoon by the Guardian, the Ministry of Defence appeared to
suddenly and officially confirm what most supporters of independence
have asserted for some time: that if Scotland becomes independent the
UK will lose its nuclear deterrent, as it has nowhere else to put it. Continue reading
Prime Minister Abe in a hurry to restart nuclear power, fearing that Japan might manage well without it
A survey conducted by the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper, just before the
elections last month, showed that more than 60 per cent wanted to
phase out nuclear energy completely
If the government allows nuclear plants to remain switched off, it
would be admitting that nuclear power is not critical to economic
recovery
the Abe administration cannot afford to have
the public realise that Japan can get along just fine without nuclear
power
Japan prepares for nuclear U-turn.Ft.com By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo 3 Jan 13,
Japan’s plan for a nuclear-free society, which gathered momentum after
the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima nearly two years ago, looks set to
be shortlived.
Since its electoral landslide in December, the Liberal Democratic
party has wasted no time in setting the stage for a return to Japan’s
former policy of promoting nuclear power as a major source of energy
generation.
Shinzo Abe, who took over as prime minister last month, has given a
clear indication that the government is looking to build new nuclear
power plants, Continue reading
Business before safety, in nuclear South Korea
The country also hopes to
capitalize on its growing technological expertise, and it has already
exported four nuclear power plants to the United Arab Emirates.
Pursuing Economic Growth, South Korea Accepts The Risks Of Nuclear
Power Generation, International Business Tomes, 3 Jan 2013 It’s a new
year for nuclear energy in South Korea. The government has just
approved the reopening of a shuttered power plant in Yeonggwang
county, which will begin supplying electricity amid official
assurances that safety concerns have been addressed….. a sobering
caveat: Nuclear energy is inherently risky. …… especially
worrisome when South Korea shut down two of its own nuclear plants in
Yeonggwang — which is less than 200 miles from the capital city of
Seoul — in November, after it was revealed that some of the working
parts had quality certificates that had been forged. Continue reading
Nuclear energy dilemma in Europe, as consensus om nuclear industry crumbles
Nuclear Options Vex Europe WSJ December 31, 2012, By GÉRALDINE AMIEL
and ALESSANDRO TORELLO, FESSENHEIM, France—The owner of the local
nuclear power plant, Electricité de France SA, EDF.FR +1.23% is
spending €20 million ($26.4 million) to upgrade it and extend its life
span for another decade, seemingly breathing new life into this town
on the German border.
But the French governent—EDF’s majority shareholder—says it plans to
close the site in 2016, amid an effort to reduce the country’s
reliance on nuclear power and promote renewable energy.
Amid uncertainty, EDF’s overhaul is proceeding. But the conflict at
Fessenheim illustrates a broader dilemma facing France and other
European Union countries. Citizens have grown more wary about the
dangers of the atom since the March 2011 nuclear catastrophe in Japan,
and the political consensus that once existed in some countries around
nuclear energy is crumbling….. Continue reading
Japan’s PM reverses policy – now favours nuclear energy
Japan’s new leader endorses nuclear plants
http://www.smh.com.au/world/japans-new-leader-endorses-nuclear-plants-20121231-2c306.html#ixzz2GkVdjSKQ
January 1, 2013 TOKYO — The newly elected prime minister of Japan,
Shinzo Abe, said Sunday that he would seek to build nuclear reactors,
reversing within a week in office a campaign pledge to move Japan away
from nuclear power. Continue reading
Even right wing USA scandalised at Fukushima radiation effect on Navy men
Top Conservative Website: If lawsuit proves true and Tepco lied about radiation to get Americans in there, this is despicable http://enenews.com/top-conservative-website-lawsuit-proves-true-tepco-lied-about-radiation-americans-despicable
December 29th, 2012
Excerpt From: US sailors sue Tokyo Power for masking radiation danger
Source: Hot Air (#1,053 in US)
Date: December 29, 2012
[…] When people show up to help you during a disaster of this magnitude they’re already putting their lives on the line. Assuming the complaint proves true and Tokyo Power knowingly lied about the radiation levels to get the Americans in there and working, this is despicable. It’s also not the sort of thing that money can fix, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be made to pay for their horrible performance. Of course, that doesn’t even begin to address the disservice they did to their own citizens in the vicinity of the reactor. […]
Read the full report here
See also:
-
Japan Representative: Tepco and the gov’t have been telling lies to the people — Officials have hidden the real numbers or given wrong ones (VIDEO)
-
Professor in Japan Blasts Gov’t, Tepco: “These are lies, they’re absolutely lies” (VIDEO)
-
“They lied to us”: Radiation release comparable to Chernobyl — Total core meltdown in all 3 reactors — Worst industrial catastrophe in world history (CNN VIDEO)
-
BBC: “Actual situation is much, much worse than we were told” says evacuee — “From the start Japan gov’t officials have lied”
UK nuclear lobby desperate to keep the industry alive, therefore needs waste dump quickly
without a positive decision, new nuclear development could be put
at risk.
Ministers are thought to be working on plans to try to ensure the
new-build programme is not derailed. Final investment decisions and
approvals for EDF’s proposed nuclear plant in Somerset are expected
next year.
a “no” vote in Cumbria in January would be likely to
deter a consortium that is at the early stage of planning a new plant
in the county, as it would have to invest hundreds of millions of
pounds before seeking planning permission….
Nuclear sector pushes for green light on waste dump. Telegraph By
Emily Gosden 30 Dec 2012
Britain’s nuclear industry has warned that a “no” vote by local
councils on crucial plans to assess sites for a major radioactive
waste dump would be “an injustice to future generations”. Continue reading
America is run by gangs – military, industrial, oil, ….
the takeover of political power in America by the
”corporatocracy”.
First is the well-known military-industrial complex. ”As [President]
Eisenhower famously warned in his farewell address in January 1961,
the linkage of the military and private industry created a political
power so pervasive that America has been condemned to militarisation,
useless wars and fiscal waste on a scale of many tens of trillions of
dollars since then,” he says.
The four business gangs that run the US, The Age, December 31, 2012 Ross Gittins
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Economics Editor IF YOU’VE ever suspected
politics is increasingly being run in the interests of big business, I
have news: Jeffrey Sachs, a highly respected economist from Columbia
University, agrees with you – at least in respect of the United
States.
In his book, The Price of Civilisation, he says the US economy is
caught in a feedback loop. ”Corporate wealth translates into
political power through campaign financing, corporate lobbying and the
revolving door of jobs between government and industry; and political
power translates into further wealth through tax cuts, deregulation
and sweetheart contracts between government and industry. Wealth
begets power, and power begets wealth,” he says.
Sachs says four key sectors of US business exemplify this feedback
loop and the takeover of political power in America by the
”corporatocracy”.
First is the well-known military-industrial complex. ”As [President]
Eisenhower famously warned in his farewell address in January 1961,
the linkage of the military and private industry created a political
power so pervasive that America has been condemned to militarisation,
useless wars and fiscal waste on a scale of many tens of trillions of
dollars since then,” he says.
Second is the Wall Street-Washington complex which has steered the
financial system towards control by a few politically powerful Wall
Street firms…..
Third is the Big Oil-transport-military complex, which has put the US
on the trajectory of heavy oil-imports dependence and a deepening
military trap in the Middle East, ……
”And Big Oil has played a notorious role in the fight to keep climate
change off the US agenda. Exxon-Mobil, Koch Industries and others in
the sector have underwritten a generation of anti-scientific
propaganda to confuse the American people.”…..
Fourth is the healthcare industry……
The 30-year achievement of the corporatocracy has been the creation of
America’s rich and super-rich classes, he says. And we can now see
their tools of trade….
Fortunately, things aren’t nearly so bad in Australia. But it will
require vigilance to stop them sliding further in that direction.
Japan’s Prime Minister Abe welcomes in pro nuclear officials
Pro-nuclear bureaucrats back in the picture under Abe THE ASAHI
SHIMBUN, 30 Dec 12
The Liberal Democratic Party wasted little time restoring the
influence of the pro-nuclear industry ministry to move away from the
nuclear-free society envisioned by the previous government.
Soon after new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe established his Cabinet on
Dec. 26, moves were quickly made that elated ministry officials who
had been kept on the defensive since the March 2011 accident at the
Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Even before he was named prime minister, Abe indicated the direction
he would take concerning the nation’s energy policy. And LDP members
expressed confidence that the party’s landslide victory in the Dec. 16
Lower House election had given them the go-ahead from the public to
pursue nuclear power generation. Continue reading
TEPCO needs help! 3.2 trillion yen needed for Fukushima compensation
Tepco requested additional financial support of 697 billion yen for the 
Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/12/tepco-requested-additional-financial-support-of-697-billion-yen-for-the-nuclear-damage-liability-facilitation-fund/
by Mochizuki on December 27th, 2012 ·
Tepco has estimated the total nuclear damage compensation to be 2.5 trillion yen and has been requesting the financial support from the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund based on the revised Special Business Plan approved on May 9, 2012.
However, after deciding the compensation standard of lands or houses, adding real estate and postponing the compensation term for spontaneous evacuees and harmful rumor of agricultural products, the estimated compensation amount increased to be 3.2 trillion yen.
On 12/27/2012, Tepco requested the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund for 697 billion yen of the additional financial support.
Related article..[Bloomberg] Tepco Sued by U.S. Sailors Exposed to Radiation [Link]
Call to Philippines government to reject nuclear power, and implement the Renewable Energy Law
The group is also calling on the Philippine government to commit to
fully implement the Renewable Energy Law to achieve 50 percent
renewable energy in the country’s energy mix by 2020.
Greenpeace slams DOE chief’s plan to revive nuclear power program
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/331337/greenpeace-slams-doe-chiefs-plan-to-revive-nuclear-power-program
By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
December 28th, 2012 MANILA, Philippines — The
environmentalist organization Greenpeace has asked Energy Secretary
Carlos Jericho Petilla to abandon his department’s plans to revive the
use of nuclear energy in the Philippines.
The group said it was shocked at the Department of Energy’s recent
proposal to revive the use of nuclear energy to power the country as
“this plan goes against global trends as far as safety is concerned.”
“Worldwide, the nuclear industry is declining having failed to
establish itself as a clean, cheap, safe or reliable energy source. Continue reading
Japan’s new government likely to promote nuclear power, restart reactors
Japan’s new government to restart nuclear reactors – Nikkei Dec 28
(Reuters) – Japan’s idled nuclear reactors will gradually be restarted
under the newly-elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the units receive
the all-clear from the country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, the
Nikkei reported.
Abe, in his instructions to cabinet members, outlined his policy of
allowing nuclear reactors to resume operations while giving priority
to the regulator’s safety assessment, the Japanese daily reported…..
The new government will also review its predecessor’s policy of
phasing out nuclear power by 2040, trade and industry minister
Toshimitsu Motegi said at a press conference on Thursday, the Nikkei
said.
Shinzo Abe who took over as Japan’s premier on Wednesday, had derided
the ‘zero nuclear’ goal of the ousted Democratic Party of Japan as
unrealistic. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/27/idUSL4N0A13QS20121227
Japan’s new government contemplates building new nuclear reactors
a more symbolic issue concerns whether the new government will approve the construction of new reactors.
“a major political decision” on whether or not to allow construction of nine reactors that currently exist only at the planning stage.
personnel appointments point to a greater say in policy by senior former civil servants who in the past walked in step with the LDP in promoting nuclear energy.
Abe administration to overhaul nuclear, monetary policies December 27, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will drastically shift the direction Japan takes in monetary and fiscal affairs, and will likely overturn a pledge by the outgoing administration to pull the plug on nuclear power….. There is now a strong possibility of Japan retaining nuclear power, and Abe has additionally indicated a readiness to allow nuclear reactors halted last year to fire up again…… “Once the Nuclear Regulation Authority creates stricter rules, we will decide over a period of three years whether operations can resume,” Abe said at a news conference late on Dec. 26, the day he formally established his Cabinet…….
The Nuclear Regulation Authority is not expected to compile new safety standards until after July 2013, which means any decision on resuming operations could likely only be made after the Upper House election in the summer.
During negotiations with coalition partner New Komeito, the LDP overruled New Komeito’s demand that Japan go nuclear-free. And the wording in the coalition agreement was toned down to state the aim of reducing “dependence on nuclear energy as much as possible.”
This lack of a specific target could allow Japan to maintain its dependence on nuclear energy indefinitely. Continue reading
Russia disappointed with India’s Nuclear Liability Law
Still comrades after all these years, The Hindu KANWAL SIBAL, 28 Dec
12, “…….Russia’s disappointment with the delay in signing the
agreement on Kudankulam 3 and 4, despite the attractive financial
terms offered, is understandable. Having agreed to set up nuclear
plants in defiance of U.S.-led international restrictions on civilian
nuclear cooperation with India and supply nuclear fuel for Tarapur,
the Russians are resentful that India wants to treat them and the
Americans and the French alike with regard to our nuclear liability
law, especially as the inter-governmental agreement pertaining to
these reactors preceded our liability legislation.
However, with
Fukushima and the public agitation against Kudankulam 1 and 2, not to
mention the Supreme Court’s involvement in the matter, the issue has
become politically difficult for the government. The answer may lie in
increased cost of Russian reactors to cater for liability exposure. Continue reading
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