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Japan still does not have a new, independent, nuclear regulator

Neglect of nuclear regulation http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ed20120423a1.html  23 April 12, The Nuclear Regulatory Agency was originally scheduled to be set up on April 1. Although the Noda Cabinet endorsed a bill to establish the agency on Jan. 31 and send it to the Diet that day, the Diet has yet to start deliberating on it. Continue reading →

April 23, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Don’t restart nuclear reactors say 6 Japanese ruling party lawmakers

6 ruling party lawmakers propose to delay reactor restarts http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201204210011 April 21, 2012 The Asahi Shimbun By SHINICHI SEKINE/ Staff Writer Six lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, elected from Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, have crafted a proposal to postpone reactivating two nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture. Continue reading →

April 23, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

“Contracts For Difference” – UK’s deceitful plan to subsidise the nuclear industry

“Industry on all sides believe this is a subsidy.”

Green campaigners believe the Lib Dems have been persuaded into allowing higher energy bills to flow into increased profits for nuclear companies by a sleight of hand that lets ministers disguise nuclear subsidies as support for “low-carbon power”.

“even the nuclear industry accepts this is a covert subsidy.”

Ministers planning ‘hidden subsidies’ for nuclear power Lib Dem worries over leaked document revealing plans to subsidise nuclear through electricity bills Fiona Harvey and Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk,   20 April 2012 Ministers are planning to subsidise nuclear power through electricity bills – despite their promises not to, a secret document seen by the Guardian reveals. Continue reading →

April 21, 2012 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Another sort of “feed-in tariff” – UK’s sly subsidy for nuclear power

The “feed-in tariffs” referred to in the leaked submission are not the same as the feed-in tariffs by which households can gain extra income by installing solar panels. 

Ministers planning ‘hidden subsidies’ for nuclear power Lib Dem worries over leaked document revealing plans to subsidise nuclear through electricity bills Fiona Harvey and Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk,  20 April 2012 “……The leaked document, a submission to the European commission, which the government has confirmed as genuine, says: “Our reforms will put in place a regulatory framework based on feed-in tariffs for all low-carbon technologies, which will allow younger technologies to mature so that in the near- to mid-term future they will be able to compete in the open market … in time, we expect that this regulatory framework will enable different low-carbon technologies to compete against each other on a level playing field for their appropriate role in the energy mix.” Continue reading →

April 21, 2012 Posted by | politics, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Half of Japan’s ruling Party against restarting nuclear reactors

Mayday for Japan’s nuclear industry BY: RICK WALLACE, TOKYO CORRESPONDENT  The Australian April 21, 2012 “…….Teruyuki Mtasushita, head of a local group in the Oi area that is organising rallies to prevent the restart, said he was stunned the government was pushing ahead with new safety measures. “Anyone who stops and thinks about it finds it an absurd and impossible idea,” he said at a press conference in Tokyo.

“What locals are worried about is an earthquake. There are three faults on the east side of the Oi plant and those have not been evaluated, even though the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency was told to investigate.”

While the government is pushing all out for the Oi restart, Democratic Party of Japan insiders say it has deeply divided the ruling party. Mr Matsushita’s press conference was attended by five DPJ MPs opposed to the restart.

DPJ MP Kuniko Tanioka said the restart was “unforgivable” and showed that the government was unduly influenced by the nuclear industry. “Before we can talk about breaking with nuclear power generation, we need to break up the nuclear village in the parliament,” she said.

Another DPJ MP, Ben Hashimoto, said opposition within the party was growing. “I would say as many as half of us are against the idea of restart,” he said.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/mayday-for-japans-nuclear-industry/story-e6frg6so-1226334685674

April 21, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

After May 5, Japan will be functioning with no nuclear power

Japan to be without nuclear power after May 5  By Yoko Kubota TOKYO, April 17 | 2012  (Reuters) – Japan will within weeks have no nuclear power for the first time in more than 40 years, after the trade minister said two reactors idled after the Fukushima disaster would not be back online before the last one currently operating is shut down.

Trade Minister Yukio Edano signalled it would take at least several weeks before the government, keen to avoid a power crunch, can give a final go-ahead to restarts, meaning Japan is set on May 6 to mark its first nuclear power-free day since 1970.

“If we thoroughly go through the procedure, it would be (on or) after May 6 even if we could restart them,” Edano told a news conference, adding that whether they can actually be brought back online is still up to ongoing discussions….. Exactly when Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa and Ohi Mayor Shinobu Tokioka will make decisions is unclear.

Members of the expert panel will be visiting the Ohi plant on Wednesday and are likely to meet several more times before they reach a conclusion, while the Fukui assembly may meet as early as next week to discuss whether they can back the restarts, Masao Sato, a member ofthe assembly, told Reuters…… http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/17/japan-nuclear-idUSL3E8FH16V20120417

April 18, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Britain’s nuclear pickle, as French firms demand more subsidies for building reactors

The comments will send a shockwave through Whitehall because they come just weeks after the German utilities RWE and E.ON said they would not proceed with plans to build new nuclear plants at Wylfa in Wales and Oldbury in Gloucestershire.

 “UK energy policy is being manipulated and subverted to make it possible for French nuclear power companies (EDF and Areva) to start building four new reactors in the UK – two at Hinkley Point in Somerset and two at Sizewell in Suffolk.”

GDF Suez’s nuclear reservations hit government energy policy French firm needs more financial incentives if it is to proceed with new nuclear plant in Cumbria, says CEO Gérard Mestrallet, Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk,   16 April 2012  The government’s energy policy has suffered a fresh blow when GDF Suez, the French firm behind plans to build a new nuclear plant in Cumbria, said it needed more financial incentives if it was to proceed. Continue reading →

April 18, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, politics, UK | Leave a comment

Vermont rallies to keep its right to veto nuclear power plants

“We are demanding justice for an agreement made 40 years ago,” said Sanders, who drew the loudest cheers. He said the state had the right to determine a “safe energy future for our kids and grandkids.”

Organizers estimated the crowd at between 1,500 and 2,000 people.

Shumlin, Sanders rally anti-nuclear protesters By Susan Smallheer, Rutland Herald,  April 15, 2012, BRATTLEBORO — More than 1,200 anti-nuclear protesters flocked to the Brattleboro Common on Saturday and listened to three of the state’s top politicians — Gov. Peter Shumlin, U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders and Attorney General William Sorrell — take turns criticizing Entergy Nuclear and its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Continue reading →

April 16, 2012 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, politics, USA | Leave a comment

60 years of government welfare to the nuclear industry. Time to stop this.

Stop the nuclear industry welfare programme After 60 years, the taxpayer should not continue to subsidise multibillion-dollar corporations in the nuclear energy sector Bernie Sanders and Ryan Alexander guardian.co.uk,   13 April 2012    ‘It is shocking that the nuclear industry continues to receive so much federal support at a time of record debt.’
The US is facing a $15 trillion national debt, and there is no shortage of opinions about how to move toward deficit reduction in the federal budget. One topic you will not hear discussed very often on Capitol Hill is the idea of ending one of the oldest American welfare programmes – the extraordinary amount of corporate welfare going to the nuclear energy industry.

Many in Congress talk of getting “big government off the back of private industry”. Here’s an industry we’d like to get off the backs of the taxpayers. Continue reading →

April 14, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, politics, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

French Presidential candidate to support Pacific Islanders where atom bombs were tested

Hollande vows more transparency over nuclear tests in French Polynesia http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=67463 Radio New Zealand,  12 April, 2012  The Socialist candidate for the French presidency, Francois Hollande, has promised French Polynesians that he would go to the bottom of the issue of the aftermath of the nuclear weapons tests.
In a video message to launch the formal campaign, he says what has been done in the past five years is not worthy, and not up to the expectations in terms of the impact the tests had.
Mr Hollande has promised greater transparency, and also endorses the initiative by French Polynesia’s member of the French Senate, Richard Tuheiava, for Paris to return the two test atolls.

Moruroa and Fangataufa were ceded to France at no cost in 1964 to allow its military to begin atmospheric and then underground nuclear tests. Although France recognised two years ago that its tests were not clean, the compensation law drawn up since has been widely criticise

April 14, 2012 Posted by | France, OCEANIA, politics | Leave a comment

European Union not keen to subsidise nuclear power

EU’s Oettinger Cool on Nuclear, Denies Subsidies Letter http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-13/eu-s-oettinger-cool-on-nuclear-denies-subsidies-letter.html By Stefan Nicola and Ewa Krukowska – Apr 13, 2012 European Union Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said he’s “hesitant” about subsidies for nuclear energy, denying a report that regulators had received a letter calling for support for atomic power.

The U.K., France, Poland and the Czech Republic urged the EU in a letter to consider nuclear energy a low-emission form of power generation that would allow it to be subsidized, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported today.

“I have not received any letter nor request of any member state asking whether they can fund nuclear power with public money,” Oettinger said in an e-mailed statement. “Nuclear safety, not financing, has top priority for us.”

The U.K.’s Department of Energy and Climate Change isn’t aware of the letter, an official said today, declining to be identified in line with policy. Denmark, the holder of the EU rotating presidency, received no such letter, Jakob Alvi, its spokesman, said by phone today. Germany, which plans to close its nuclear stations by 2022, also received no letter, said Stefan Rouenhoff, a spokesman for the economy ministry.

April 14, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, politics | Leave a comment

Florida’s Governor withstands Tea Party intimidation, and supports renewable energy

Scott defies tea party on renewable-energy bill, Orlando Sentinel, April 13, 2012|By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida  TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott late Friday disregarded pressure from tea party and conservative groups and a controversial measure including tax breaks for renewable-energy production to become law without his signature.

Scott’s decision effectively gives a victory to Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and lawmakers who say the state needs to take steps toward developing renewable fuels. …. Putnam issued a statement thanking Scott for his consideration of the bill (HB 7117),
which the commissioner described as a step toward a “smart, long-term energy policy.”

Tea party members and conservative groups such as The Heartland Institute and Americans for Prosperity had inundated Scott with calls to veto the bill  …
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-13/news/os-renewable-energy-bill-20120413_1_renewable-fuels-tea-party-tax-incentives

April 14, 2012 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Exelon Nuclear company begging for taxpayer charity

State Help Needed for New Nuclear Units, Exelon Chief Says Bloomberg News, By Brian Wingfield   April 11, 2012 U.S. utilities will need government help to build nuclear reactors as other forms of electric power become less expensive, a top executive of Exelon Corp. (EXC) (EXC), the nation’s largest commercial producer of atomic energy, said.

State support may include letting companies recover costs from customers during construction, providing loan guarantees or agreeing to buy power from the plant, Mayo Shattuck III, executive chairman of Chicago-based Exelon, said today at a conference in Washington.

Building reactors may require “the sovereign support of that state, which really means it’s on the backs of the ratepayers, not the backs of the shareholders,” Shattuck said at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission on March 30 awarded Scana Corp. (SCG) (SCG) a permit to build two reactors at a plant near Columbia, South Carolina, and on Feb. 9 approved Southern Co. (SO) (SO)’s plan for two units at its Vogtle plant near Augusta, Georgia. Southern expects its project to
cost $14 billion. Scana will cover 55 percent of the estimated $10.2 billion for the South Carolina reactors. The plants, being financed partly by customers, may be among the last in the U.S. this decade…..
Economic conditions raise “very serious questions” about the possibility of building new reactors without government support, Shattuck said……
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-11/state-help-needed-for-nuclear-units-exelon-chief-says

April 12, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear election issue in France: former AREVA chief exposed Sarkozy’s manipulations

“Atomic Anne” tries to nuke France’s Sarkozy, Apr 11, 2012   * Ex-CEO says Sarkozy tried to sell reactor to Gaddafi * Government says Lauvergeon’s account is “fiction” * Socialists question EDF boss’ future By Paul Taylor, PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) – Nuclear warfare has broken out between France’s two main political parties 11 days before the first round of a presidential election, with a woman known as “Atomic Anne” launching a strike on President Nicolas Sarkozy. Continue reading →

April 12, 2012 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

Nuclear power for Turkey – pleases Russian sales, not the Turkish people

more than two thirds of the Turks do not want nuclear power. A government that constantly argues that it represents the will of the people is actually acting against the will of the people in this case….

Turkish nuclear power – an unwarranted venture, Hurriyet Daily News, ERHUN KULA, 12 April 12 On Nov. 9, 2007, the ruling Justice and Development Party passed a law in the Turkish Parliament to build nuclear power plants in Turkey, which started the nuclear ball rolling. The government argued that this venture would provide “cheap,” “clean,” “safe” and sustainable energy to help rapidly expanding and diversifying Turkish industry. Of course, none of these claims about nuclear power is true. In fact, it is extremely expensive, unclean, unsafe and unsustainable.  Continue reading →

April 12, 2012 Posted by | politics, Turkey | Leave a comment

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