Call for independent radiation monitoring of nuclear plant in San Clemente
Group Wants New Radiation Monitors In San Clemente, Concerns About ‘Information Flow’ From San Onofre Nuclear Plant, KPBS, February 7, 2012, By Ed Joyce, Inspectors at the plant are trying to find signs of a leak at the Unit 3 reactor. The leak forcedSouthern California Edison, which operates the facility, to take the reactor offline. The other reactor, Unit 2, was already offline for scheduled maintenance and refueling.
……..members of an environmental group want the San Clemente City Council to demand public release of inspection findings before the two reactors are restarted.
Gary Headrick is the founder of San Clemente Green. He plans to bring up several items at tonight’s San Clemente City Council meeting.
“We have some immediate concerns about wanting to get an independent radiation monitoring system in San Clemente,” said Headrick. “That way we won’t have to rely on the sources from the industry to tell the public exactly what’s going on. Maybe they have a conflict of interest and they don’t want to share all the information right away, that’s what we saw happen in Japan and information was delayed getting to the public.”
He also wants the City of San Clemente to pay for an epidemiological study of cancer trends near the nuclear plant…… http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/feb/07/group-wants-new-radiation-monitors-san-clemente/
Progress Energy to continue getting nuclear advance, “dumb money”, from customers
Senators reject efforts to repeal so-called ‘nuclear tax’, Miami Herald, 7 Feb 12, Some call it a nuclear tax. Others call it a fee. Whatever the name, Florida legislators decided Monday they don’t want to take it off the electricity bills of Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light customers — even though the companies gave legislators no guarantees that they will build the nuclear plants the money is being collected to construct.
The Senate Communications, Energy and Utilities Committee voted down a proposal by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, Monday to repeal the so-called nuclear cost recovery clause embedded in customer bills. Continue reading
Virginia Uranium’ s lavish gifts to law-makers
Va. Uranium tops in 2011 gifts to state lawmakers, By David Sherfinski-The Washington Times, February 7, 2012 Virginia Uranium, which is pushing to mine a 119 million-pound deposit in southside Pittsyvania County, gave more than $120,000 in gifts and trips last year to state lawmakers — tops in Virginia — according to figures released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.
Lawmakers reported receiving a total of nearly a quarter million dollars’ worth of gifts.
The top five donors were Va. Uranium ($120,336) , Dominion Power ($16,916), Jonnie R. Williams Sr ($15,233). Alexander B. McMurtrie Jr. ($12,322) and the State of Taiwan ($11,000.)
Virginia Uranium flew 15 lawmakers to examine mines on fact-finding missions in France and/or Canada. Continue reading
Lynas rare earths company suits greedy politicians, not the Malaysian people
Lynas plant a done deal from the start , malaysiakini, Feb 7, 2012 “……Manjit Bhatia: These protests against Lynas are very worthwhile. The Lynas project should never have been given the green light in the first place, let alone a temporary licence by the Umno-BN regime.
What’s really galling is that the regime went ahead with the latter despite Lynas failing to provide all of the mandatory guarantees needed. Worse, though: were there any public consultations about the project to start with? I feel the protests at Lynas aren’t big enough to put sufficient political pressure on the company to reconsider its operations…..
Although Malaysians have to cop a huge compensation bill to Lynas, it’ll be worth it. Just wear the fiscal pain for a decade.
Pemerhati: This is the price Malaysians pay for electing corrupt and greedy Umno thieves as their leaders……
CiViC: The concern now is exposing our people, our land to radioactive waste, radiation and pollution. This is not the people’s needs.
Thousands of people have protested, and still the dirty corrupt BN government pushes it through. And please don’t start with economic gains and such bull, there are no gains here since Lynas needs not pay tax, and the guarantee they have posted is not even enough to clean the plant itself, what more pollution beyond that…. http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/188438
Russia is privatising its State nuclear corporation Rosatom
Russia Prepares Privatization of State Nuclear Giant Rosatom, Publics BG 6 Feb 12, Russia has compiled a plan for the reorganisation of each state holding company and their subsequent entry into the market Having spent five years combining its nuclear power, engineering and research enterprises into the single entity of Rosatom, the Russian government now sees privatisation of the firm as part of a plan for industrial modernisation…
… its civil nuclear assets – for example nuclear fuel, reactor technology, supply chain, power plant operation, services and waste management – are to become a “public liability
company” with its shares “subsequently sold off….
….. Rosatom had a preliminary agreement with Siemens to partner in nuclear energy in
2009, but this faltered and in 2011 it signed with Rolls-Royce to consider possibilities “for mutually beneficial cooperation in a comprehensive series of activities in Russia, the UK and third countries.”, World Nuclear News reported. http://www.publics.bg/en/news/7037/Russia_Prepares_Privatization_of_State_Nuclear_Giant_Rosatom.html
Lynas rare earths company and Malaysia’s general election
Rare earth plant and general election 2012-02-03 , By LIM SUE GOAN Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE Sin Chew Daily, 6 Feb 2012, “……….Since the AELB has granted the Lynas a temporary operating licence (TOL), Lynas should have complied with the 11 recommendations made by the IAEA. The authority has also listed another five extra conditions under the TOL, including a detailed plan for a permanent disposal facility (PDF), to avoid repeating a similar waste disposal issue of the Bukit Merah rare earth plant.
However, why is Lynas given 10 months after the TOL’s issuance date to submit the plans and location of the PDF? In addition, the authority also has the right to appoint independent consultants to evaluate Lynas’ adherence to the set standards and regulations. Does it mean that the government may suspend the plant’s operation, if the conditions are found broken?
Also, Lynas must comply with the financial assurance condition by paying the government a US$50 million security bond in installments. However, it is not the main concern as the people’s health is priceless. With Lynas’ financial strength, US$50 million is nothing.
Would the anti-Lynas protest groups compromise after so much have been done by the government? Would the MCA and Chinese community groups change their stand? From the attitude of the Anti-Lynas groups and the public response, the Bukit Merah rare earth plant tragedy seems to be still clear in their minds. Under the international trend of concern over environmental issues, it is quite impossible to eliminate the opposition voices from the public.
The people resist even high-tension cables, telecommunication towers and garbage incinerator, how would they tolerate a rare earth plant that could bring radiation problems?
In addition, the authorities have left some doubts in dealing with the issue. For example, why the construction work of the plant was not suspended during the period when Lynas is required to fully comply with the 11 recommendations put forward by the IAEA? The progress of the construction work of the Mount Weld plant in Western Australia has even gone beyond expectation. Lynas had also constantly announced the date of operation, seemed like it was very sure of being granted an operation licence.
The uproar might be avoidable if the government has high credibility and supervision efficiency, which are also the key of the issue. http://www.mysinchew.com/node/69705
Although the Lynas rare earth plant is the world’s largest rare earth plant with the capacity to meet a fifth of the world’s demand, the people’s health is still the most important issue. The rare earth plant issue will be a thorny issue for the election.
TEPCO and Japan’s nuclear lobby under siege from Tokyo’s mayor
Anti-Nuclear Tokyo Mayor Challenges Big Utilities, WSJ, By George Nishiyama, 6 Feb 12, Tokyo’s Setagaya ward is over 260 km away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a long way from the evacuation area imposed bythe Japanese government after last year’s March 11 disasters….
But Setagaya’s mayor is determined to turn this city ward of 840,000 people, the largest in Tokyo, into the front-runner of a movement that will put an end to Japan’s reliance on atomic power and accelerate the use of renewable energy. Continue reading
Nuclear power plans on the back burner in Southeast Asia
In Malaysia, the government has quietly put a proposal to build two 1,000 MW nuclear power plants “on the back burner,” said a senior government source.
The decision came after environmentalists targeted a plan by Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp to commission a processing plant in central Malaysia that would have to dispose of radioactive waste….
Analysis: Southeast Asia goes slow on nuclear, Reuters, By John Ruwitch HANOI Feb 2, 2012 ”…..Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore are among some 35 countries considering going down the nuclear path, likely doubling the number of operational reactors in the next few decades, according to Lloyds Register.
But even the most ambitious plans will run up against barriers and constraints. In most Southeast Asian countries where there is interest in nuclear power, politics are holding it back. Indonesia’s National Atomic Energy Agency has been researching reactors for more than four decades and preparing the human resources, but the political will is lacking. Continue reading
Malaysia facing radioactive threat from Australian rare earths company Lynas
Malaysian group to file suit to challenge approval for Aussie rare earth plant Washington Post, : February 2 LAWSUIT PLANNED: A Malaysian group representing villagers and civil groups will file a legal challenge to the government’s decision to approve a $230 million rare earths plant by Australian miner Lynas Corp., a lawmaker said Thursday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/malaysian-group-to-file-suit-to-challenge-approval-for-aussie-rare-earth-plant/2012/02/02/gIQAmIwDlQ_story.html
Key victory, but battle is not over yet BY: ROWAN CALLICK, : The Australian February03, 2012 ”….Environmental concerns have been driving greater political involvement in Malaysia as the population becomes better educated.
Growing ecological awareness has provided a common cause for middle-class activists of the three races — Malays, Chinese and Indians — who have tended otherwise to be divided by the country’s political parties…. The plant approval intensifies the need for Lynas to operate it impeccably and to build its community relations, because an election is almost certain to be called in Malaysia later this year. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has already warned that his three-party coalition would scrap the plant if it wins the election.
Fuziah says Lynas plant will scare off other investors, The Malaysian Insider, By Shannon Teoh January 31, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR, — Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh has hit back at Lynas Corp, insisting that the presence of the Australian miner’s RM2.5 billion rare earth plant would deter investors from Pahang.
Earlier today, Lynas executive chairman Nicholas Curtis warned against any move by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to shut the company’s refinery, which has raised fears of radiation pollution, saying such action would deter foreign investors.
Fuziah, who has led protests by locals and environmentalists against the plant, said yesterday the federal opposition would shut down the plant if it won a general election that must be called by May next year.
“Would any foreign investor want to site their operations right beside a rare earth plant? Would companies like Siemens want to set up near Lynas?
“This is not a strategic investment in terms of risk versus benefit. We don’t need rare earth to be high-tech. Germany doesn’t have rare earth,” she told The Malaysian Insider……
“(PAS spiritual leader) Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has said if you want to close down Lynas, vote for Pakatan. (Opposition Leader) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also said the same.
“I am not just anybody. I am PKR vice president and a member of the Pakatan leadership council,” she said.
The Australian miner said last week it expects the start of operations to be delayed to the second quarter from the first quarter of this year.
The plant was due to start operations in September last year but Putrajaya bowed to public pressure last April after sustained opposition from local residents and environmentalists and put the project on ice pending the review by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In July 2011, the government agency adopted 11 recommendations set out by the review of the refinery and said it would not allow Lynas to begin operations or import rare earth ore until all conditions, which include a comprehensive, long-term and detailed plan for managing radioactive waste, are met.
However, AELB has said Lynas Corp failed to meet any of the conditions in its first proposals…. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/fuziah-says-lynas-plant-will-scare-off-other-investors
Complicated nuclear politics in Sweden
Political quarrel about uranium mining, Stockholm News, MATS ÖHLÉN 1 Feb 12, A rather peculiar situation has emerged in the Swedish Riksdag. Despite the fact that the Centre Party is clearly in favour of prohibiting uranium mining in Sweden, it’s about to vote down such a
proposal from the Greens. The reason is that the Centre Party is loyal with its coalition parties in the governing four-party alliance.
The Greens have earlier proposed a prohibition in the Riksdag but was voted down by among else the Centre Party. In a new attempt to get support for the proposal, the Greens have now reformulated their proposal exactly as the Centre Party does in it’s party congress decision in the issue.
After the initial preparation of the issue in the parliamentary Committee of Industry in Trade, it was clear that the Centre Party will vote against the proposal also this time. This according to the chief whip of the Centre Party group in Riksdag Anders W. Jonsson.
“If the Centre Party would vote in favour of the Green’s proposal, it would seriously damage our possibilities to convince our coalition parties in the government offices to present such a proposal”, Jonsson says to public broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR)…..
Lise Nordin the economic spokesperson for the Greens is very critical towards the Centre Party. “The Centre Party choose power before the environment. Now they have the chance to decide that all threatened areas finally get a closure in this issue. But when it comes to it in the RIksdag, the Centre Party doesn’t stand up for the ideas which it claims to represent”, Lise Nordin says to SR. http://www.stockholmnews.com/more.aspx?NID=8356
Japan’s government put use by date on nuclear reactors
Japan Cabinet OKs bill to cap nuke reactor life, Macon.com By MARI YAMAGUCHI – Associated PressTOKYO, 1 Feb -12 –– Japan’s Cabinet approved bills Tuesday aimed at bolstering nuclear safety regulations following last year’s Fukushima disaster, including one that would put a 40-year cap on the operational life of nuclear reactors.
The approval came as International Atomic Energy Agency experts generally endorsed “stress test” results at two idled reactors in western Japan, bolstering the Tokyo government’s efforts to restart the facility, though the IAEA team said some safety measures needed clarification.
Japan currently has no legal limit on the operational lifespan of its 54 reactors, many of which will reach the 40-year mark in coming years. One reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had been in use 40 years when the tsunami struck last March.
The legislation, which still needs parliamentary approval to take effect, does allow for an extension of up to 20 years.
Critics have blasted that exception as a loophole,…… Critics, ….. say the tests are meaningless because they have no clear criteria, and view the IAEA as biased toward the nuclear industry.
Florida’s nuclear cost fiasco is a wake up call to Iowa
The Iowa Legislature is currently considering similar legislation (HF 561) that would allow MidAmerican Energy to force Iowa consumers to foot the bill in advance for nuclear reactors, and let MidAmerican keep the money regardless of whether they are ever constructed.
Nuclear Cancellation In Florida Is Warning To Iowa Legislators Florida utility seeks to cancel nuclear construction plans while leaving customers on the hook for hundreds of millions as Iowa legislators consider allowing a similar
swindle IOWA –-(ENEWSPF)–January 27, 2012. News that Florida utility Progress Energy plans to cancel the construction contract for its proposed nuclear reactors in Levy County — and will leave customers with a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars — should convince Iowa
legislators to finally abandon a proposal by MidAmerican Energy that could bilk consumers across Iowa, said Friends of the Earth. Continue reading
$13 billion taxpayer bailout for Japan’s TEPCO nuclear company
Japan’s stricken nuclear operator set for $13 billion bailout By Kentaro Hamada and Linda Sieg TOKYO Jan 26, 2012 (Reuters) – Japan is set to launch a $13 billion bail-out of the owner of its stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant after the utility dropped resistance to a public fund injection, sources said on Thursday, as the country debates the future of nuclear power.
The injection of 1 trillion yen ($12.8 billion) in public funds into Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) would effectively nationalize the firm, supplier of power to almost 45 million people, in one of the world’s biggest bailouts outside the banking sector………. It is now resigned to the state rescue, but sources familiar with the matter said it was still dragging its feet over the form of bail-out, with the government proposing that the state-backed Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund take a two-thirds share, which would let Tokyo make the key decisions. Continue reading
France’s General Assembly likely to block the return of Pacific atolls to indigenous people
FRANCE EXPECTED TO BLOCK RETURN OF NUCLEAR ATOLLS , Pacific Islands Report Test veterans concerned about condition of sites WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Jan.20, 2012) – French Polynesia’s nuclear test veterans organisation says it expects France’s centre-right majority in the National Assembly to block a bill seeking the return of the nuclear weapons tests sites to French Polynesia.
The leftist majority in the French senate approved the bill by Richard Tuheiava who wants Paris to return Moruroa and Fangataufa in 2014 in line with an undertaking that France would only keep the atolls for the duration of the tests.
However, the French government claims confidential defence issues remain.
The head of Moruroa e tatou veterans group, Roland Oldham, says this prevents an independent assessment of the atolls which are feared to collapse with the release of radioactive plutonium.
“For Moruroa e tatou it is very important. In fact right now Moruroa and Fangataufa are forbidden places for the public; it is a military place. And because it is a military place we don’t have much information about the situation of Moruroa.”
[PIR editor’s note: Veterans groups are also concerned that France does not allow independent inspectors to visit the atolls.]
Roland Oldham says he expects the ruling UMP to block the bill once it gets to the French National Assembly. Radio New Zealand International: www.rnzi.comhttp://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2012/January/01-23-15.htm
TEPCO nuclear company to be nationalised, saved from bankruptcy
TEPCO ‘to be nationalised’ for 10 years, SKY News, January 21, 2012 The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant will be effectively nationalised for at least 10 years under a plan to provide it with money to fund compensation payouts, a report said Saturday.
The funding from a public body is expected to inject Y1 trillion yen ($A12.48 billion) into Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), effectively putting it under state control, Kyodo reported quoting sources close to the matter.
The scheme is expected to be included in a comprehensive business plan to be finalised in March by TEPCO and the fund, named the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund, the report said.
Under the plan TEPCO will remain as a listed company, it added.
The funding body will receive money from special government bonds and contributions from other utilities which have nuclear power plants in Japan.
The business plan is aimed at preventing TEPCO from becoming insolvent due to the heavy costs stemming from the world’s worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster…..
A government panel has estimated claims from victims affected by the Fukushima crisis could reach 4.5 trillion yen by 2013…..
(TEPCO) will aim to get into the black in the year to March 2014 by raising household electricity charges and reactivate its idle nuclear reactors from early 2013, the news agency added. It is hoped that TEPCO would be able to exit effective state control
as early as in March 2022.
Commenting on the report, TEPCO spokeswoman Megumi Iwashita said: “Nothing has been decided up to date.” http://www.skynews.com.au/businessnews/article.aspx?id=709835&vId=
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