France to consider all nuclear options, including exit from nuclear power
French 2050 committee will consider all nuclear options: BessonParis (Platts)- –Anna Crowley, -8 Nov 2011 A committee tasked with reviewing France’s energy supply options to 2050 will consider all options for nuclear energy, energy minister Eric Besson said Tuesday.
Besson told a Paris conference that scenarios under review included expanding the lifespans of existing reactors, “accelerating” the move towards a new generation of third- or fourth-generation nuclear reactors, a gradual reduction of nuclear’s share of the energy mix and full exit from nuclear generation. …. Continue reading
Fukushima elections: 90% of candidates want nuclear power scrapped
90% of Fukushima candidates want N-reactors scrapped The Yomiuri Shimbun, 9 Nov 11 Nearly 90 percent of candidates planning to run in the upcoming Fukushima prefectural assembly election think all the reactors at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant should be decommissioned, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.
All 87 potential candidates responded to the survey, whose findings suggest radiation decontamination and other nuclear issues will be key points in this campaign–a change from previous prefectural assembly elections.
An official announcement of the election will be made Thursday, and Fukushima Prefecture residents will go to the polls Nov. 20. The election has been postponed due to the March 11 disaster and ensuing nuclear crisis.
According to the survey, 76 candidate, or 87.3 percent, said the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s nuclear plant should be decommissioned. The Nos. 1 to 4 reactors have already been designated for decommissioning.Regarding the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant, the future of which has not been decided, 72 people, or 82.7 percent, said the plant should be decommissioned…..http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111108005264.htm
Solyndra solar power failure now backfiring on nuclear industry
nuclear loans are not strict enough either. So the whole Solyundra solar power failure was a matter for nuclear rejoicing – but it’s now backfiring on them! – Christina Macpherson As conservative broadcast outlets make hay of taxpayer loan guarantees to the failed solar module manufacturer Solyndra, more guarantees to the nuclear industry are awaiting approval.
Points made as vociferous politicians and others decry green energy loan guarantees will apply to the nuclear industry, and that makes some people very nervous about almost identical — and much, much bigger — loan guarantees made and pending for new nuke plant construction. Continue reading
Scotland’s opposition to depleted uranium weapons testing
The Labour MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, Katy Clark, said she would be concerned if DU tests resumed. “There remain health concerns about these weapons and we should be concentrating on getting an international ban on their production and use,” she said.
Anger as depleted uranium shells to be test-fired again Depleted uranium shells are blamed for causing radioactive and heavy metal pollution and are used by Challenger tanks, HERALD SCOTLAND EXCLUSIVE BY ROB EDWARDS ENVIRONMENT EDITOR, 6 Nov 2011 HIGHLY controversial depleted uranium shells are set to be test-fired in Scotland again, the Sunday Herald has learned. Continue reading
In Washington, huge and costly lobbying by nuclear company Entergy
glimpses into Entergy’s extensive lobbying efforts in Washington.
It’s impossible to tell how much Entergy spent on its efforts to try to get the NRC and Justice Department to intervene in the Vermont Yankee case
Entergy Services reported spending $670,000 on lobbying in the second quarter of this year, when the question of government intervention in the Vermont Yankee case was most in play, and that Entergy Nuclear Northeast, another company unit, spent $90,000…..
The reports do not include money the company spent on lawyers involved in the Vermont Yankee matter; the documents indicate that involvement was extensive…..
Documents show heavy Entergy lobbying on Vt. nuke, Boston.com By Dave Gram, Associated Press / November 6, 2011 MONTPELIER, Vt.—Entergy Corp. heavily lobbied multiple federal agencies last spring as it unsuccessfully pleaded with them to join its lawsuit against the state of Vermont’s efforts to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, internal Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents show. Continue reading
TEPCO nuclear company makes $8 billion loss, gets $11.5 billion in public funds
Japan Approves Billions in Aid to TEPCO, Voice of America, 5 Nov 11 Government agreed Friday to a deal giving $11.5 billion in public funds to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to cover costs in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled its Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The government said the funds would help TEPCO with cleanup and dismantling of the plant and compensation payments to residents of the area. The money comes from a fund made up of all Japanese nuclear plant operators and the government. In return, the utility must reduce its operating costs by more than $32 billion over the next 10 years and lay off more than 7,000 workers.
Engineers at Fukushima are still trying to bring the reactors to a stable cold shutdown by the end of this year. News of the bailout came on the same day TEPCO forecast a nearly $8 billion loss for the current fiscal year, ending in March. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/11/04/japan-approves-billions-in-aid-to-tepco-2/
Japanese mothers demand radiation protection, and closure of nuclear power
The women are calling for two things. First, they want to protect children living in highly contaminated areas by giving them the officially sanctioned ‘right to evacuate.’ This would include government compensation and support that would enable children and their families to relocate on a voluntary basis.
Secondly, they want to close down all nuclear power plants in Japan. “Fukushima women feel very strongly that there is no safe nuclear power,” “This is the lesson to be learned from Fukushima.”
The women have asked for a response from the state by Nov. 11—exactly eight months after the deadly quake.
Fukushima Women Demand Better Protection for Children Exposed to Radiation, TIME.com , November 3, 2011 Lucy Birmingham. About 100 women from Fukushima, Japan, have started a week-long sit-in at a government office in Tokyo to demand greater protection for children affected by radiation. “Many children and their families are trapped in Fukushima because they can’t afford to move,” explains Ayako Oga, 38, a housewife living in the prefecture and one of the sit-in organizers. “The government has set the accepted radiation exposure rate too high.” Japan’s standard rate for exposure to radiation is 1 millisievert per year. For Fukushima residents alone the accepted exposure rate is up to 20 millisieverts per year. The International Commission on Radiological Protection considers this rate the top level and says it should not be exceeded over the long term.
National and prefectural governments have determined that until the 20 millisieverts level they are not obligated to offer financial support to residents, certain businesses or schools wanting to relocate outside the irradiated areas. At the heart of the debate is the question of who has a ‘right to evacuate.’ “At Chernobyl, the right to evacuate, which means government support, was given from 1 to 5 millisieverts. In Japan it’s 20,” Continue reading
India’s top nuclear scientist wants a stop to nuclear power programme
India does not need nuclear energy: Top scientist, Nov 3, 2011, By Kumar Chellappan Chennai DNA One of the pioneer nuclear scientists in the country says that India can very well suspend its entire nuclear programme. “It is true that we have spent thousands of croresof rupees to set up nuclear power plants. But we will be forced to spend thousand times more than that in the eventuality of a nuclear disaster,” said Dr MP Parameswaran, former scientist of the Atomic Energy Commission. Continue reading
The $64 billion question – 3 reasons why Japan should nationalise TEPCO
Japan’s nuclear conundrum, The $64 billion question, Once the Fukushima nuclear plant is stable, the government should temporarily nationalise its operator The Economist Nov 5th 2011
The government should act fast to nationalise Tepco and hold it temporarily in public ownership as it clears out the old management and oversees the clean-up. Then it should reprivatise a thoroughly reformed utility. Three reasons argue for Tepco to be nationalised. Continue reading
Taiwan’s President Ma contradicts himself on nuclear power shutdown
Ma’s promises on energy policies — advocating commercial operations for the fourth nuclear plant, and in the meantime offering that the government would rather sacrifice the power plants than allow nuclear disasters to happen — sound tempting, but are completely contradictory, DPP’s presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, proposed, yesterday.
Ma’s government had only promised to give up on the use of nuclear energy when natural disasters strike, but by then nothing done could relief the calamity that had taken place, Tsai argued.
Existing nuclear plants to be shut down: MaThe China Post, 4 Nov 11President Ma Ying-jeou promised yesterday that the licenses of the existing three nuclear power plants will not be renewed after they expire, and if the fourth power plant begins stable operations before 2016, early shutting down of the first nuclear power plant will be considered Continue reading
USA Republican politicians crusade for uranium mining around Grand Canyon
Republicans Continue Crusade To Mine Around the Grand Canyon, Think Progress Nov 3, 2011 by Jessica Goad, Manager of Research and Outreach, Center for American Progress Action Fund. Last week, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced plans to withdraw 1 million acres around Grand Canyon National Park from new mining claims for 20 years. After a two-year stakeholder involvement process, nearly 300,000 public commentswere received on this proposal, 90 percent of which were in favor of the full withdrawal according to Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey. But that has only caused Republicans from both chambers to hurriedly introduce bills that would prevent the Department of the Interior from taking this action and throw open the areas to new mining. Continue reading
By 2025 Belgium to be completely nuclear power free
Belgium to completely phase out nuclear power by 2025 Click, 2 Nov 11, The Belgium Government has announced plans to phase out nuclear power within the next 15 years, reports our affiliate site ENN.comGreen staff. Published Wed 02 Nov 2011 Although typically quite fractured, Belgium’s political parties have reached a consensus on nuclear power.
The oldest reactors are to be shut down by 2015 and all nuclear reactors at both sites will be shut down by 2025. The plan is conditional on Belgium finding enough energy from alternative sources to prevent power shortages…..
Mexico abandons plans for new nuclear plants
Mexico Scraps Plans to Build as Many as 10 Nuclear Plants, Bloomberg, By Carlos Manuel Rodriguez – Nov 2, 2011 Mexico, one of three Latin American nations that uses nuclear power, is abandoning plans to build as many as 10 new reactors and will focus on natural gas-fired electricity plants after boosting discoveries of the fuel.
The country, which found evidence of trillions of cubic feet of gas in the past year, is “changing all its decisions, amid the very abundant existence of natural-gas deposits,” Energy Minister Jordy Herrera said yesterday in an interview. Mexico will seek private investment of about $10 billion during five years to expand its natural gas pipeline network, he said……
“This is a very good decision by the Mexican government,” said James Williams, an economist at WTRG Economics, an energy research firm in London, Arkansas. With a power generation project based on gas “you can build multiple plants at a much lower cost and much faster pace than a nuclear facility.”
Nations around the world are also reconsidering plans for increasing their reliance on nuclear power after the March 11 earthquake in Japan that wrecked the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, causing a loss of cooling, the meltdown of three reactors and the worst atomic disaster since the leak at Chernobyl in 1986….. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-02/mexico-scraps-plans-to-build-as-many-as-10-nuclear-plants-focus-on-gas.html
Indian government’s nuclear plans fraught with problems
The anti-nuclear lobby has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), while protests are on the rise at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, a new site for a large reactor project, which got the approval for work to begin.
In Kudankulam, protests have been getting bigger. The Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa herself wrote to the PM,
There is also the question of ageing of the existing reactors.
Daunting road ahead for nuclear power, THE HINDU, M. SOMASEKHAR, 2 Nov 11 The Department of Atomic Energy is bullish on the power programme, but achieving the target of 20,000 MW by 2020 is plagued by resource crunch, technology issues and environmental problems. Continue reading
Chernobyls’ veteran “liquidators” storm Ukraine’s parliament
Chernobyl veterans seek to storm Ukraine’s parliament Times of Oman Nov 01 2011 Ukraine: About 1,000 Ukrainian veterans of theclean-up from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster tried Tuesday to storm parliament in Kiev in outrage at planned benefit cuts, an AFP correspondent reported.
The demonstrators broke down a metal fence which was built up around the parliament several weeks ago after the first attempt of the Chernobyl “liquidators” and veterans of the Soviet Afghan war to break into the building.
About 100 riot policemen gathered near the parliament entrances to prevent the veterans coming into the chamber itself. The protesters stayed on the square between the parliament and the broken fence and shouted “Shame!”.
In September, lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill cutting back benefits paid to those who helped clean up the April 1986 nuclear disaster and those who still live on the affected lands.
However the protests have meant the parliament has not taken further action. http://www.timesofoman.com/innercat.asp?detail=51553
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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