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Resistance growing to Jaitapur nuclear plan in seismic area

Former nuclear safety regulator Dr A. Gopalkrishnan revealed that he had been told in 1995 by American nuclear authorities that India would be well advised to close the reactors.

Fears rise in India of Fukushima-style nuclear disaster, By Julian O’Halloran, BBC News, 27 April 2011 Jaitapur, India  A leading campaigner against a massive nuclear power plant in India has pledged that villagers are ready to sacrifice their lives in order to prevent a repeat of Japan’s nuclear disaster. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | India, safety | Leave a comment

USA worries over aging nuclear reactors

Of those granted extensions, more than half received permission to produce more electricity. And some, according to anti-nuclear groups, operate with less government oversight than decades before.

Anti-nuclear groups say the trend does not pose an immediate threat, but they question the wisdom of pumping more power from an aging fleet of reactors.

U.S. nuclear strategy worries scientists…More than half the nation’s reactors, including Virginia’s four, received license extensions, Daily Press, By Cory Nealon 26 April Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

No room for complacency about Japan’s nuclear reactors

Every functional nuclear plant is being pushed to the limit and beyond in order to maintain a semblance of normality – but they are ALL in bad repair and are sitting ducks for the next mega-quake….or for ONE overworked plant manager to make a bad decision. Or simply overuse…………There also seem to be problems at :

Onagawa reactor #3
Fukushima Daini reactor #3
Tokai Reactor #3
Kashiwazaki reactor #3……the core is generating deadly radiation

Fukushima Could Be Worse — And It Will Be, April 25, 2011, Hawaii News Daily, By Tom Burnett “……..I  have information from Yoichi ‘boots on the ground’ that smoke was emitting from Kashiwazaki last week after the MAG 7,1 EQ. which occurred off Honshu on 7 APR 2011.  Continue reading →

April 27, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Al Qaida plot to use nuclear weapon?

WikiLeaks unveils Al-Qa’ida plot, Montreal Gazette, BY HOLLY WATT, LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH APRIL 25, 2011 LONDON – Guantanamo interrogators have uncovered a determined attempt by Al-Qa’ida to attack Western countries using chemical or nuclear weapons, according to files made public through WikiLeaks…
… One of the terrorist group’s most senior figures warned that Al-Qa’ida had obtained and hidden a nuclear bomb in Europe that would be detonated if Osama bin Laden was killed or captured. Continue reading →

April 26, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

San Onofre Nuclear Plant sits on earthquake area

How safe is San Onofre? Los Angeles Times,25 April 11, Edison and federal regulators must stop the continuing deterioration of the safety culture at the nuclear power plant.  By Najmedin Meshkati, April 26, 2011, The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station sits on a beach in a seismically active area of Southern California, just three miles south of San Clemente. Continue reading →

April 26, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

90 million people potentially endangered near nuclear plants

Population concentration near a reactor is not a measure of danger, which depends on numerous factors including earthquake risk, quality of maintenance, regulatory oversight and the amount of radioactive material on site. But it does suggest how many people will be at risk if something does go terribly wrong, as happened in Fukushima, and in Chernobyl

90 million live within 30 km of a nuclear reactor,  Montreal Gazette, 24 April 11, Study outlines number of people at risk in case of serious accident About 90 million people worldwide live within 30 kilometres of a nuclear reactor, equivalent to the exclusion zone around Japan’s crippled Fukushima plant, a study released Friday shows. Continue reading →

April 24, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

15 metre wall planned to protect Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant

Tepco to Build Wall for Nuclear Plant After Fukushima Disaster Bloomberg, By Tsuyoshi Inajima – Apr 21, 2011   Electric Power Co. will build a seawall to protect its biggest atomic power station from a tsunami like the one that knocked out its Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, causing the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

Japan’s biggest power company, known as Tepco, plans to construct a wall to a height of 15 meters (50 feet) above sea level off the coast of its Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant northwest of Tokyo, spokeswoman Ai Tanaka said by phone. Three of seven reactors remain shut at the station after an earthquake in 2007 caused radiation leaks.

Tepco has been battling to contain radiation spewing from the Fukushima plant after a magnitude-9 quake on March 11 unleashed a tsunami that flooded the station, knocking out cooling systems. The company won’t get approval to start the remaining reactors at Kashiwazaki until it resolves the crisis at Fukushima, a local government official said on April 6.

Japan’s government last week raised the severity rating of the Fukushima crisis to the highest on an international scale, the same level as the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The station, which has withstood hundreds of aftershocks, may release more contamination than Chernobyl before the crisis is contained, Tepco officials said. …..http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-22/tepco-to-build-wall-for-nuclear-plant-after-fukushima-disaster.html

April 22, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

32 Asian nuclear plants at risk from earthquakes

.Like Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant they lie within a few hundred miles of the type of fault known to unleash the largest tsunami-spawning earthquakes…..At least 32 plants in operation or under construction in Asia are at risk of one day being hit by a tsunami, nuclear experts and geologists warn…..

Asia nuclear reactors face tsunami risk, Google News (AP)  19 April 11, JAKARTA, Indonesia — The skeleton of what will soon be one of the world’s biggest nuclear plants is slowly taking shape along China’s southeastern coast — right on the doorstep of Hong Kong’s bustling metropolis. Three other facilities nearby are up and running or under construction. Continue reading →

April 19, 2011 Posted by | ASIA, safety | Leave a comment

Anti nuclear protestor killed by police

Anti-nuclear activists were planning further protests this weekend in Maharahstra to demand that the Jaitapur and other nuclear power plant schemes be scrapped,

Indian police kill protester in anti-nuclear demo, Google News, (AFP) – 19 April 11, MUMBAI — Indian police opened fire on hundreds of protesters — killing one — at a demonstration against the proposed construction of a nuclear power station, police and the government said Monday… Continue reading →

April 19, 2011 Posted by | India, safety | Leave a comment

Internet leak of nuclear submarine secrets

Nuclear secrets leaked in redaction gaffe, Information Age, 18 April 11,  Ministry of Defence redacted secret parts of nuclear documents just by changing the background colourThe UK’s Ministry of Defence accidentally published nuclear secrets online after staff used an easily reversible technique to redact sensitive parts publically available documents.The documents were published online following a Freedom of Information request from anti-nuclear campaigners. Certain sensitive parts of documents were supposed to be redacted, but staff simply changed the background colour of the text to black – a procedure that is easily reversed by copying and pasting the text into another document.The gaffe revealed top secret emergency response procedures for UK nuclear submarines, and details of US nuclear subs too…… Nuclear secrets leaked in redaction gaffe

April 18, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Concise account of nine nuclear accidents

This article gives a concise account of 9 nuclear accidents – BBC News – Timeline: Nuclear plant accidents

Timeline: Nuclear plant accidents. BBC News, 12 April 2011 The nuclear crisis in Japan has revived fears over the safety of nuclear power and the potential danger posed to public health when things go wrong.There have been a number of serious nuclear incidents since the 1950s. Below are details of the most serious: Continue reading →

April 13, 2011 Posted by | safety | Leave a comment

Not all nuclear accidents have been rated on the scale

Some of the events on this list predate the scale and do not appear to have been rated. They are listed by Mr. Cochran in chronological order.

Keeping Score on Nuclear Accidents – NYTimes.com, Matthew Wald 12 April 11, Now that Japan has raised its assessment of the Fukushima accident to a 7 on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s scale, equal to the 1986 accident at Chernobyl, it may be time to review past accidents. Thomas B. Cochran, a physicist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, just did that in preparing to testify on Tuesday afternoon before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Continue reading →

April 13, 2011 Posted by | safety | Leave a comment

Volcanoes, earthquakes, corruption, but Indonesia still wants nuclear power

concerns over Indonesia’s geological vulnerability – such as its ill-fated position atop the “ring of fire” – in addition to Indonesia’s history of inefficiently coordinated responses to disaster…..
Then there’s the pervasive culture of corruption in Indonesia.

Fukushima crisis fails to dampen Indonesia’s nuclear ambitions   guardian.co.uk, 13 April 11, Gillian Terzis “……The government is talking up the country’s nuclear future…….the reverberations of the crises at Fukushima have scarcely cast a ripple in Indonesia‘s political quarters. Two weeks after Japan’s nuclear crisis, the Indonesian government stated that it will continue to pursue an ambitious nuclear power programme of its own that will triple the country’s electricity output by 2025…… Continue reading →

April 13, 2011 Posted by | Indonesia, safety | Leave a comment

India’s ramshackle infrastructure a danger for nuclear safety

Japan crisis fuels India nuclear safety concerns, Daily Times. 11 April 11,  “…….experts say the government has not properly addressed a crisis scenario, given India’s ramshackle infrastructure and largely untested emergency procedures. The Department of Atomic Energy has “cavalierly minimised” the potential of an accident, said Balaram’s letter, which was also signed by Gopalakrishnan and former power secretary E.A.S. Sharma.The Japanese crisis has focused domestic attention on India’s plans to construct what would be one of the world’s largest nuclear plants at Jaitapur in a seismically sensitive region of Maharashtra state.French company Areva has signed a $9.3 billion deal to supply the first two of Jaitapur’s six planned third-generation pressurised water reactors.But the region has experienced 92 earthquakes since 1985, including one measuring 6.2, according to environmental group Greenpeace.“The dangers have been swept under the carpet,” Greenpeace spokesman Hofeza Merchant said.
“With our corrupt and poor quality practices inherent in the system, it is very dangerous to meddle with such high-risk projects,” said B. Ramakrishnam Raju, convenor of the National Alliance of People’s Movements.
Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan – Japan crisis fuels India nuclear safety concerns

April 11, 2011 Posted by | India, safety | Leave a comment

Five USA nuclear plants at earthquake risk

Five U.S. nuclear reactors in earthquake zones – USATODAY.com,By Steve Sternberg, 11 April 11, At least five U.S. nuclear reactors are located in earthquake-prone seismic zones, potentially exposing them to the forces that damaged the Fukushima plant in Japan, a new analysis shows. The at-risk reactors are the Diablo Canyon Power Plant and San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California; the South Texas Project near the Gulf Coast; the Waterford Steam Electric Station in Louisiana and the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant in North Carolina…..Five U.S. nuclear reactors in earthquake zones – USATODAY.com

April 11, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

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